Fortuna Redux was a form of the goddessFortuna in theRoman Empire who oversaw a return, as from a long or perilous journey. Her attributes were Fortuna's typicalcornucopia, with her specific function represented by arudder orsteering oar sometimes in conjunction with a globe.[1][2]
Thecult of Fortuna Redux was introduced toRoman religion in 19 BC, creating a new holiday(feriae) on October 12 that originally marked the return ofAugustus to Rome from Asia Minor in 19 BC. From that time, she received annualsacrifices from thepontiffs andVestals at an altar dedicated to her(Ara Fortunae Reducis). After the death of Augustus, the holiday was known as theAugustalia, and was a major development in the complex of religious observances involvingImperial cult.[3]
The altar of Fortuna Redux wasinaugurated on October 12, and dedicated on December 15.[4] It was probably adjacent to theTemple of Honor and Virtue near thePorta Capena.[2] The altar is pictured on several coins, and appears to have been "relatively modest".[2]Domitian built a temple for the goddess, following atriumphal return from war in Germany in 93 AD.[5][2] The temple most likely stood on the slope of theCapitoline Hill overlooking thePorta Triumphalis. It has been identified with a temple on a panel depicting an arrival ceremony(adventus) on theArch of Marcus Aurelius. The pictured temple has symbols of Fortuna in thepediment, and atetrastyle andprostyle design of theCorinthian order. There is some possibility that it is the tetrastyle temple on a fragment of theSeveran Marble Plan.[2] Coins indicate that the cult statue was standing, and held the rudder and cornucopia that are her usual attributes.[2]
Fortuna Redux was widely disseminated in the Western Empire as thetutelary of the emperor's safe return to the city when he traveled abroad, an event that reaffirmed Rome as the center of the Imperial world.[6] InCirta,Numidia, an inscription preserved a dedication toFortuna Redux Augusta by a local official, with the epithetAugusta marking the goddess's relation to Imperial cult.[7][8] She was the most common manifestation of Fortuna depicted on Imperial coins.[1] In 211 AD, for instance, coinage with Fortuna Redux commemorated the return ofCaracalla andGeta fromBritannia.[9] She also appears on coins issued bySeptimius Severus,[1]Gallienus, and other emperors.[10]
Although her cult was established as part of state religion in Rome, the goddess received personal devotion from individuals elsewhere in the Empire, as indicated by inscriptions in fulfillment of a vow(votum) expressing gratitude for a safe return. An inscription fromGlanum records a votive altar dedicated by a military veteran of theLegio XXI Rapax for Fortuna Redux along with the Celtic deitiesGlanis and theGlanicae.[11]
A form ofJupiter was also cultivated with theepithetRedux.[12] The rudder and cornucopia appear as attributes likewise of thesyncretizedIsis-Fortuna.
