Fear was the first thing on earth to make gods

What once sprung from the earth sinks back into the earth

Fear is the mother of all gods. Nature does all things without their meddling.

All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.

And they spake against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, which were the work of the hands of man.

Rome was a culture alive with fear, ... Fear of what the other side will do ... fear of what the gods will do if you do not propitiate them.