In Roman mythology, Morta is the Parca who cuts the thread of life. She is one of the three Parcae, the Roman goddesses of fate, whose Greek counterparts are the Moirai.
The Parcae divide the work of determining a mortal's lifespan among three figures. Nona spins the thread of life, Decima measures or assigns its length, and Morta cuts it, marking the person's death. Their names are often linked to the Latin words for the ninth, tenth, and a figure associated with death, although the trio's functions are more important than the numerical names in later storytelling.
Roman writers connected the Parcae with the broader idea of fate, or an unavoidable destiny. They were not simply benevolent or malicious deities; their role was to enforce the allotted order of human life. A common mix-up is to select Decima, because measuring the thread sounds like determining its endpoint, but the actual cutting belongs to Morta.