
Fortuna Conservatrix is an aspect of the Roman Goddess of Fate
and Luck. Her name means "Fortuna the Preserver", "Fortuna the
Defender" or "Fortuna the Protectress". She seems to have been
worshipped especially by soldiers, as several altars dedicated to Her have been
found in the northern outposts of Britannia, in Mamucium (modern Manchester,
Englandincidentally the Roman name comes from a Celtic word and means
"Breast-shaped Hill"!), Castra Exploratum (which means "Test
Camp" and is an indication of the tentative nature of the settlement, modern
Netherby), and Cilernum (Chesters) on Hadrian's Wall. On the northernmost limit
of the Empire, up among the painted Picts, the Romans must have felt especially
nervous and in need of Fortuna's protection and good luck.
Not everyone at the outposts was Roman by birth, though, as the
fort at Cilernum was at one time manned by a cavalry division from Austria;
the altar there was dedicated to Fortuna Conservatrix by one Venenus, named
on the altar as a "German". On the altar Fortuna is depicted in a
naive provincial style, with what is probably a cornucopia, and what may be
a tiny wheel behind Her. Though not Roman, Venenus was still a long way from
home in a strange land, and in need of Fortuna's protection.
Conservatrix was also used as an epithet of Juno.
