Fortes fortuna iuvat

The Latin proverb Fortes (or fortīs) fortuna iuvat ('Fortune favours the brave (the bold or the strong)'), was said by Pliny the Younger (61-c113 CE) to have been quoted by his uncle, Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE), when the latter set off on his fatal journey in 79 CE to view the eruption of Vesuvius at close range (see Pliny the Younger, Letters VI 16). Fortes fortuna iuvat is the motto of The Jutland Dragoon Regiment in the Royal Danish Army.

Several variants of the proverb are found. Among them

Fortes (or fortīs) fortuna adiuvat ('Fortune helps the brave'), (Terence (Publius Terentius Afer. c190-c159 BCE), Phormio, 203), the motto of the British naval vessel HMS Brave and of several ships in the US Navy.

Audentes fortuna iuvat ('Fortune favours those who dare'),(Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro, 70-19 BCE), Aeneid, X 284), the motto of the United States ship USS Montpelier, and of the Portuguese Army Commandos.

Virtutis fortuna comes ('Fortune is the companion of valour'), the personal motto of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), adopted as the motto of several military units in the UK, e.g., 33rd Regiment of Foot (The Duke of Wellington's Regiment, now the third battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment); in New Zealand (9th (Wellington East Coast) Mounted Rifles Regiment); and in the USA (334th Infantry Regiment). Virtutis fortuna comes is also the motto of the English public school, Wellington College, founded by Queen Victoria in 1859 to honour the memory of the Duke of Wellington.