From Ancient Rome to KwaZulu: Inkatha in South African Politics

Abstract

Macaulay, in Lays of Ancient Rome, wrote of Romans praying to the Tiber for life and arms, but it was the god Janus who was normally guardian of the state’s ventures into war. Janus was depicted with two faces, looking in opposite directions, with one signifying opening and beginning, the other closure and ending; he presided over the beginning of all enterprises, being especially invoked in times of conflict and as the protector of trade, when he became the pre-eminent god. Down the centuries the two-faced Janus has been given conflicting attributes. The first is as the bearer and protector of new ventures and beginnings, with one face looking forward from the past, especially toward peace following war. The second connotation is that of deceit and double dealing, with one face pulling in a way opposite to the other, much as in Dryden’s lines on Shakespeare: ‘He was the very Janus of poets; he wears almost everywhere two faces; and you have scarce begun to admire the one, ere you despise the other.’