Fortuna Redux, one of the many aspects of the Roman Goddess of
Luck, Fortuna, was in charge of bringing people home safely, primarily from
warsredux means "coming back" or "returning".
She may be one of the later aspects of Fortuna, as the earliest mention of Her
is of an altar dedicated by the Senate in 19 BCE for the safe return of the
Emperor Augustus. This altar was located near the porta Capena, a gate in the
old Servian wall not far from the grove of the Camenae,
and at this altar rites were performed by the priests and Vestal Virgins during
the Augustalia, games celebrated in honor of Augustus on his birthday on October
12th. Though usually it is only temples that are known to have a dedication
date, this altar was considered special enough that its dedication date of the
15th of December was recorded.
She had a temple in Rome in the Campus Martius, a swampy area
down by the Tiber dedicated to Mars that had once been used for the assembly
of soldiers. The temple to Fortuna Redux there was built by the Emperor Domitian
sometime around 93 CE after he had safely returned home from a war in Germany.
Fortuna Redux may have started as a Goddess who primarily made
sure the Emperor got home alive, but it seems it was not long before She was
invoked to bring others home safely, especially soldiers, as one might expect.
Several altars dedicated to Her have been found in Brittania, the frontier of
the Empire, especially in the area up by Hadrian's Wall, the very northern limit
of Rome's power. They commonly come from military bath-houses, and She is sometimes
mentioned along with Fortuna Salutaris ("Health-bringing
Fortune") and Fortuna Balnearis ("Fortuna
of the Bath-House"). At the Roman fort of Cilurnum on Hadrian's Wall (the
modern Chesters, Northumbria, England), Fortuna Redux shared an altar with Aesculapius,
the God of Health (the Greek Asklepios); and Her company on these altars imply
that She was considered a Goddess who had healing powers, or who at least had
the power to preserve health and wholeness, so that Her worshippers would be
able to come home.
A related aspect of the Goddess of Chance, Fortuna Restitutrix,
was also concerned with the health and saftey of soldiers. Her title means "She
Who Restores", which can also be translated like Redux as "She
Who Brings Back", and She was evidentally worshipped by the military. An
altar to Fortuna Restitutrix has been found in the Castra Praetoria, the barracks
of the Praetorian guard in Rome, built in the first century CE, about the time
Fortuna Redux seems to have come about. Her altar was in a room in the northern
part of the barracks set with a black and white mosaic floor.
Also called: Fortuna Reduci, "Fortune Returns"; She
is depicted on coins with a wheel, sometimes the emblem of Nemesis, Greek Goddess
of retribution, law and justice.