Temple of Fortuna Augusta, Pompei

The Temple of Fortuna Augusta stands on the corner of Forum Street and the Street of Fortune. It was built by Marcus Tullius, a wealthy local benefactor and relative of the major philosopher, writer, and statesman Cicero. Tullius established a dedicated board of ministers to maintain the imperial cult, which intertwined the worship of the goddess Fortuna with the veneration of the Roman Emperor, Augustus Caesar. As the decades progressed, the temple continued to honor successive rulers, serving as a powerful monument to imperial loyalty.

The temple, like many Roman places of worship, kept religious statues in its inner sanctuary. Over time, the ministers and local elites would commission and place statues of various members of the imperial family into the sanctuary's smaller niches. This practice allowed the citizens of Pompeii to seamlessly combine civic patriotism with religious devotion. A sacred cult statue of the goddess Fortuna Augusta herself remained anchored in the large central niche throughout the temple’s history, flanked by these imperial portraits.

This small temple was heavily damaged in the earthquake of 62 AD, and was still undergoing repairs when the city was buried. It originally had a very similar layout to the Temple of Jupiter, located nearby at the edge of the Forum. A raised podium at the centre of the temple, accessible via a grand stone staircase, contained an outdoor altar and the inner sanctuary. Within it, five distinct niches housed the central statue of Fortuna along with those of the imperial family.