Temple of Fortuna Muliebris

Aside from some inscriptions recording restoration work in the Roman imperial period, no remains of the temple exist and the date it went into disuse is unknown.

Ancient authors Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Valerius Maximus, and Livy all record the story of the exiled Roman Gnaeus (or Gaius) Marcius Coriolanus joining forces the Volsci, an Italian tribe that were enemies of Rome.

[8] Coriolanus initially met his mother, wife, and sons in private, but Veturia insisted on addressing him in front of the troops.

[17] Worship of Fortuna Muliebris seems to have been associated with this temple specifically, commemorating the combined efforts of the Roman women to protect the city.

[19] The statue is said to have praised the women for doing a good deed by dedicating it to the goddess, with two ancient authors recording different versions of this brief speech.

[22] Though there are no other women recorded as holding the position of the priestess of Fortuna Muliebris, Valeria evidently was allowed to establish early rules for worship in the temple.

[21] That the priesthood was held by a woman was not particularly unusual in ancient Rome, as several state religious officials were women, like the Vestal Virgins who served as the priestesses of the goddess Vesta.

An inscription on the fragments references a restoration made to the temple by Livia, the wife of the first Roman emperor Augustus, during the early 1st century CE.

A second restoration was completed by the empress Julia Domna and her family during the Severan period, as indicated by a second inscription on the same marble fragment bearing Livia's name.