Editing Janus (section)

====5. Sociological remarks====

;(a) The vagueness of Janus's association with the cults of primitive Latium: The vagueness of Janus's association with the cults of primitive Latium and his indifference towards the social composition of the Roman State suggest that he was a god of an earlier amphibious merchant society in which the role of the guardian god was indispensable.

;(b) Janus bifrons and the [[Penates]]: Even though the cult of Janus cannot be confused with that of the Penates, related with Dardanian migrants from Troy, the binary nature of the Penates and of Janus postulates a correspondent ethnic or social organisation. Here the model is thought to be provided by the cult of the ''Magni Dei'' or [[Cabeiri]] preserved at [[Samothrace]] and worshipped particularly among sailing merchants.

:The aetiological myth is noteworthy too: at the beginning one finds [[Dardanus (son of Zeus)|Dardanos]] and his brother [[Iasion|Iasios]]<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus I 61: Iasos would have unduely aspired to the union with Demeter; Diodorus Siculus V 49: Iasion is on the contrary asked for the union by Demeter and from it Plutos is born.</ref> appearing as auxiliary figures in a [[Phrygia]]n cult to a [[Cybele|Great Mother]].

:In Italy there is a trace of a conflict between worshippers of the Argive [[Hera]] ([[Diomedes]] and the Diomedians of the south) and of the Penates. The cult of Janus looks to be related to social groups remained at the fringe of the Phrygian ones. They might or might not have been related to the cult of the [[Dioscuri]].<ref>Objections by D. Briquel in ''MEFRA'' '''88''' 1976 p. 44 against St. Weinstock in ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 1960 p. 112 ff.</ref>