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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sepulchrave II" data-source="post: 9743232" data-attributes="member: 4303">Mostly, yes.But a fair number of Greek and Roman philosophers were either atheistic or theomachistic, and it's not hard to envisage a world where their ideas either prevailed or became more widespread - i.e. backed by a sympathetic imperial power. (While it's fair to say that imperial polities tend to recognize the utility of religion in entrenching their own power, other ideologies can potentially be just as effective.)Atheótēs (godlessness) was usually levelled as an accusation, but some philosophers even self-identified as such.Diagoras of Melos ("The First Atheist," 5th c. BCE) mocked the Eleusinian mysteries and was accused of impiety.Critias (5th c. BCE) suggested that religion was a human invention to control behaviour, not divine realityProdicus of Ceos (5th c. BCE) said the gods were merely anthropomorphized natural forcesTheodorus of Cyrene (4th c. BCE) denied divine providence and the existence of the godsEpicurus (4th-3rd c. BCE) said the gods - if they existed - lived in bliss and were divorced from and uninterested in human affairsEuhemerus (about the same time as Epicurus) believed the gods were merely fictionalized accounts of historical charactersLucretius (1st c. BCE) denied divine providence and wrote that religion was a source of fear and crueltyPliny the Elder (1st c. CE) said the universe itself was the only true divinity, and called the afterlife "a fabulous fiction"There are also those who were theomachists - i.e. who despised the gods: Euripides, Lucian of Samosata.</blockquote>

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