Temple of Janus (Roman Forum) Temple of Janus (Roman Forum) In ancient Rome, the main Temple of Janus as it is often called, although it was not a normal temple, stood in the Roman Forum near the Argiletum. It had doors on both ends, and inside was a statue of Janus, the two-faced god of boundaries. The doors (the "Gates of Janus") were closed in times of peace and opened in times of war. According to Livy 1.19 the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, decided to distract the early, warlike Romans from their violent ways by instilling in them awe and reverence. His projects
Doorways in the Sand Fred crash at his apartment. The setting is in the “near-future Earth.” The “near future” is defined in the "Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" as an “imprecise term used to identify novels set just far enough in the future to allow for certain technological or social changes without being so different that it is necessary to explain that society to the reader.” One character describes the near future in "Doorways": I am especially conscious of the difference between that earlier time and this present. It was a cumulative thing, the change. Space travel, cities under the sea, the advances in medicine—even