In ancient Roman religion, Fortuna Virilis was an aspect or manifestation of the goddess Fortuna who despite her name (virilis, "virile, manly") was cultivated by women only. She shared a festival day with Venus Verticordia on April 1 (Kalendae Aprilis), which first appears with the name Veneralia in the mid-4th century AD.[1]
According to the poet Ovid, Fortuna Virilis had the power to conceal the physical imperfections of women from the eyes of men.[2] During the Veneralia, she receives an offering of incense, while the more elaborate ceremonies are devoted to Venus. A note from Verrius Flaccus in the fragmentary calendar known as the Fasti Praenestini has been interpreted to mean that respectable women of the upper classes (honestiores) observed the Veneralia separately from those of lesser rank or dubious reputation (humiliores and prostitutes).
Plutarch is the only source to mention the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, which he says was founded by Servius Tullius.[3] Because of her association with Venus Verticordia, Fortuna Virilis may likewise have had her temple in the Vallis Murcia. A temple in the Forum Boarium sometimes identified as that of Fortuna Virilis is more likely to belong to Portunus,[4] though possibly it was built for Portunus and rededicated to Fortuna Virilis.[5] In the early Middle Ages it was converted to a church perhaps called Santa Maria de Secundicerio.[6]
^On the Calendar of Filocalus; p. 218.
^Ovid, Fasti 4.145–150.
^Plutarch, De Fort. Rom. 10, Roman Questions 74.
^Richardson, New Topographical Dictionary, p. 158; John Osborne, "Rome and Constantinople in the Ninth Century," in Rome Across Time and Space: Cultural Transmission and the Exchange of Ideas, c. 500–1400 (Cambridge University Press, 2011), p. 230.
^John Osborne, "Dating Medieval Mural Paintings in Rome," in Roma Felix: Formation and Reflections of Medieval Rome (Ashgate, 2007), p. 202.
ancient Roman religion, FortunaVirilis was an aspect or manifestation of the goddess Fortuna who despite her name (virilis, "virile, manly") was cultivated...
moment of birth. Fortuna Virilis ("Luck in person's"), a person's luck in marriage. Fortuna Redux brought one safely home. Fortuna Respiciens The fortune...
temples in the area besides his. It was misidentified as the Temple of FortunaVirilis (Latin for "Manly Luck") from the Renaissance and remains better known...
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Jones (sculpture) and a putto with a temple plan of the Temple of FortunaVirilis as depicted by Palladio in his architectural treatise I quattro libri...
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housing the Temple of Hercules Victor, the Temple of Portunus (Temple of FortunaVirilis), and the massive 6th or 5th century BC Ara Maxima. According to legend...
Ionic columns, a motif which takes its inspiration from the Temple of FortunaVirilis in Rome. The central block is surmounted by a large pediment with heraldic...
fluted columns are thought to be replicas of those in the Temple of FortunaVirilis, also in Rome. Around the hall are statues in niches; these are predominantly...
status Observances April 1 Kalendae Aprilis F • Veneralia for Venus and FortunaVirilis 2 a.d. IV Non. Apr. F 3 III Non. Apr. C • dies natalis for the Temple...
circular temple, largely complete Temple of Portunus or "Temple of FortunaVirilis" – very complete Ionic exterior, near Santa Maria in Cosmedin and the...
the opposite end stands the Ionic Temple, inspired by the Temple of FortunaVirilis in Rome. It was intended as a banqueting house and the central table...
on ancient and antique art and monuments, including the temples of FortunaVirilis, Vesta, and Giove Tonante (Thundering Jove), and the tombs of Bibulus...
England. Built in 1767, it is a replica of the 1st-century Temple of FortunaVirilis in Rome. The Temple stands in Mill Wood, a 17-acre (7 ha) pleasure...
Marble Hall the columns of which are based on those of the Temple of FortunaVirilis the coffering is based on the Pantheon, The Statue Gallery exedra are...
years of his life Virgil spent in Cremona until the assumption of his toga virilis on his 17th birthday (when the same two men held the consulate as when...
distinguished from freedmen, foreigners, slaves and infamous persons. The toga virilis ("toga of manhood") was a semi-elliptical, white woolen cloth some 6 feet...
Verpėja, Lithuanian life thread goddess. Virilis Tesserae 56.1N 239.7E 782.0 1985 One of the names of Fortuna, Roman goddess of chance. Xi Wang-mu Tessera...
portion of the second century, and the middle of the third. Titus Tertinius Virilis, made two offerings to Nehalennia at Ganventa in Gallia Belgica, one of...
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