What About Those New Year Resolutions !

The first month of 2016 is coming to an end......and I was just thinking if you still remember those New Year's resolutions you made on the first of January? Are you planning on sticking to them this year...seriously? You may not realize it that the tradition of making promises on the first day of the year is a custom started by our Roman ancestors.

''Rome's highest officials made a resolution to remain loyal to the republic and swore oaths to the Emperor in 1st January.,'' says Professor Richard Alston, from the Department of Classics a Royal Holloway University. ''A grand ceremony marked to occasion, where the Roman legions would parade and sacrifices were made on the Capitoline Hill. New Year's Day offered all Roman citizens an opportunity to reflect on the past and look to the new year ahead.''

People would exchange sweet fruits and honey, greet each other with blessings for the coming year and the courts only worked in the mornings, so they has a half day holiday to reflect on the coming year.

On January 1st, the Romans celebrated JANUS, the god of new beginnings who had two faces -- one looking into the past and another looking into the future. ''Janus represented doors and thresholds and the Romans named the month of January in his honour.'' added Professor Alston. ''Janus also symbolized the values of home, friendship and civilization, and the doors of his temple were closed when Rome was at peace and thrown open in times of war so that citizens could enter and ask Janus to once again restore balance and peace through the year.''