One particular group of hypocrites was the Puritans, who traveled from Europe to make the perfect society in what is now New England in the 17th Century. The Puritans had a religious lifestyle devoted to the Bible, but that same lifestyle was a hypocritical one that ultimately led to the decline of their society.
By using figurative language, Shakespeare creates a visual image of Octavius' army overtaking them like inescapable death. Cassius' words foreshadow later events in Act 5.
