Gates of the Janus to start war between the Trojans and the Latins. Later historical contexts The legends of Janus have been used for many purposes throughout history. 16th century Roman priests used them to justify the seat of Christianity being moved from Rome to Jerusalem and described the Vatican as the "Throne of Janus". This was done to gain traction in Italy through the perceived support of the "god of beginnings". The story of the Gates of Janus was also used by British political and military leaders during the 19th and early 20th centuries. They portrayed the opening of the Gates as a part of the glory of war and used the legend to add honour to the wars over control of their empire. See also List of Ancient Roman temples Pax Romana Temple of Janus (Forum Holitorium) Numa Pompilius References Further reading Castagnoli, Ferdinando. 1988. "Gli iani del Foro Romano. Ianus arco quadrifonte?." Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma XCII: 11-16. Claridge, Amanda. 2010. Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide. 2nd ed., revised and expanded. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Coarelli, Filippo. 2007. Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide. Berkeley: University of California Press. DeBrohun, Jeri Blair. 2007. "The Gates of War (and Peace): Roman Literary Perspectives." In War and Peace in the Ancient World, Edited by Raaflaub, Kurt A. The Ancient World. Comparative Histories, 256-278. Oxford: Blackwell. Staccioli, Romolo Augusto. 1985. "A proposito di una ricostruzione « grafica » del sacello di Giano all'Argileto." Archeologia Classica 37: 283-289. Townend, Gavin. 1980. "Tacitus, Suetonius and the temple of Ianus." Hermes CVIII: 233-242 External links Temple of Janus Closing of the temple Plutarch's Life of Numa Janus Roman temples by deity