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Fortuna Huiusce Diei


Fortuna Huiusce Diei ("The Fortune of This Day" or "Today's Fortune") was an aspect of the goddess Fortuna, known primarily for her temple in the Area Sacra di Largo Argentina at Rome.Cicero lists her among the deities who should be cultivated in his ideal state, because "she empowers each day". She thus embodies an important aspect of time as it figures in Roman religion: every day of the year had a distinct and potent nature, which the public priests were responsible for knowing and aligning the community with by means of the religious calendar.

The Temple of Fortuna Huiusce Diei in the Area Sacra was vowed by Q. Lutatius Catulus at the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BC. It is the only known temple to this goddess, and probably the first. Its founding belongs to a period of religious innovation, with new cult titles for traditional Roman deities, and an increasing tendency to embrace imported gods, particularly those of the Greeks, through theological and artistic interpretation. Catulus himself was known as a lover of Greek culture in his taste for art and poetry, and in matters of lifestyle. The architectural design of the temple reflects cultural syncretism: the frontality of its podium design would have placed the focus on the cult statue in the Roman manner, but some aspects are Hellenistic.

Colloquially, the temple was known as the aedes Catuli, "Catulus's temple," an indication of how public works served as monuments to their builders. In building this temple and the portico known as the Porticus Catuli, Catulus was competing with his co-commander and consular colleague Gaius Marius. Although the two had celebrated a joint triumph, they became bitter political rivals, and Catulus felt that Marius had received disproportionate credit for the outcome of the war. Public buildings were a form of "self-advertisement" in the competition among the ruling elite of Rome. The choice of Fortuna as the deity honored by Catulus links his self-presentation to that of Sulla, who served under him and later took the name Felix, "Lucky."


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