Fortuna- Roman GodDeity"Goddess of Fortune"

The Lots at Praeneste

At Praeneste, east of Rome, Fortuna's sanctuary climbed the hillside in terraces of ramps and colonnades. The cult there was older than Rome itself. Cicero records how the sanctuary began: a nobleman named Numerius Suffustius, troubled by recurring dreams, went to a spot the goddess had shown him and split open a rock. Inscribed wooden lots tumbled from the living stone, carved with letters so ancient they could barely be read.

A boy drew the lots from an olive-wood chest whenever someone came to consult the goddess. The sticks were shuffled, one was chosen, and the inscription read aloud. Cicero was skeptical, but he noted that even the Roman Senate had once sent an official inquiry to Praeneste.

Servius Tullius

Servius Tullius was born to a slave woman in the household of King Tarquinius Priscus. As an infant, flames appeared around his sleeping head. The queen recognized the sign. The boy was raised as a prince and married into the royal family.

Ovid and Plutarch both record that Fortuna herself loved Servius. She visited him through a small window in his house, night after night, a goddess climbing through a mortal's window. His daughter Tullia conspired with her husband Tarquinius Superbus. They killed the king, and Tullia drove her chariot over her father's body in the street. Fortuna's favor died with him.

Fors Fortuna

Servius built temples to Fors Fortuna across the Tiber. Her festival fell on June 24. The common people and freed slaves floated down the river in garlanded boats, drinking and singing. It was their holiday, not the Senate's.

Fortuna's Bones

Gamblers invoked her name before throwing dice. Merchants prayed to her before a voyage. On New Year's Day, Romans exchanged honey and dates to sweeten the coming year.

In the praetorian barracks, a golden image of Fortuna stood among the soldiers. When one emperor fell and another rose, the image was carried to the new ruler. Cassius Dio records the transfer as a mark of legitimate succession.

The Prisoner's Wheel

In 524 CE, the Roman senator Boethius sat in a prison cell, stripped of rank and property, awaiting execution. He wrote the Consolation of Philosophy, and in it he gave Fortune a voice. She spoke: "I spin my wheel. I delight in changing the lowest to the highest and the highest to the lowest." Fortune did not apologize. She pointed out that everything she had given, she had only lent.