Salve sis Moravi (see I'm learning *g*)

Thank you for that helpful little blurb. I had read up bit more on Epicureanism and was surprised to see that although they advocated to not fear the gods, they still claimed to believe in god(s). So it is possible to revere the gods without fearing them. As far as I know there weren't many schools of thought that advocated total atheism. Even Homer made fun of the gods. Religion was everywhere, in almost everything, and had been since anyone could remember. It would've been very hard to break away of this prevailing mindset into total disbelief of the gods. In answer to Herky's question, I think Caesar took up Epicureanism in that way: reverance, but not fear, of the gods.

"Apart from war and politics, Caesar was deeply committed to the cultivation of literature. He had interrupted his earlier career in order to pursue literary studies at Rhodes.."

As did a lot of people, including Cicero. Apollonius Molon was a popular rhetor :) The only difference being that Cicero was commended by Apollonius (Plutarch's Life of Cicero pt. 4) while Caesar "...did not achieve that effectiveness in oratory to which his natural talent directed him, in consequence of his campaigns and of his political activities, by means of which he acquired the supremacy. " (Plutarch's Life of Caesar pt. 3)