The City of Fortuna

This chapter is focused on the most famous sanctuary of Fortuna in ancient Italy, the one dedicated to Fortuna Primigenia in the Latin town of Praeneste. It is argued that the diverse contexts in which Fortuna appears point at a variety of meanings attributed to her from the earliest period, including salvation and victory in war. The chapter also explores historiographical attempts at coping with the variety of the evidence using systematizing and theologizing interpretations, arguing that these attempts tend to be overly dependent on a limited amount of evidence: inscriptions to the goddess from collegia and the local aristocracy suggest an interest in Fortuna beyond mainly mothers.