Which Roman goddess personified good luck and fortune?

Fortuna was the Roman goddess who personified good luck and fortune. Her name is the source of the English word “fortune,” and Roman worshippers associated her with luck, chance, fate, prosperity, and sudden reversals of circumstance.

Unlike a goddess who guaranteed success, Fortuna could bring either good or bad outcomes. Romans therefore gave her many titles, including Fortuna Publica for the fortune of the Roman people and Fortuna Redux for safe returns home. Her Greek equivalent was Tyche, another deity of luck and civic prosperity.

Artists commonly showed Fortuna with a wheel, globe, rudder, or cornucopia. The wheel represented life’s unstable changes, while the rudder suggested her power to steer human destiny. The cornucopia emphasized abundance. A common mix-up is treating her as only a “good-luck” goddess; Roman tradition also stressed her fickleness and her ability to overturn success. Her festival Fors Fortuna was celebrated on June 24, and a major sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia stood at Praeneste.