“Whereas we [the Romans] believe lightning to be released as a result of the collision of the clouds, they [the Etruscans] believe that the clouds collide so as to release lightning, for as they attribute all to the deity, they are led to believe not that things have a meaning in so far as they occur, but rather that they occur because they must have a meaning.”
~Consulations, 1st century CE (Spivey: 92)
The Roman stoic philosopher Seneca here writes about the beliefs of the Etruscan civilization, in contrast to the Roman’s own. The Etruscans were an architecturally and culturally advanced group of Italic-speaking tribes (one of whom founded the city of Rome) that greatly influenced the Romans, who greatly influenced the basic western mindset.
It seems that while Romans (and most westerners) believe that cause precedes effect, the Etruscans postulated that the effect created the cause. This means that God (or in their case, one of the gods) or nature intended for lightning to strike in a certain place, and so created the precise conditions for that to happen. This ultimately serves a higher purpose or design or “meaning” as Seneca puts it.
The Mysterious Past 