The Roman Empire, before Christianity, was a polytheistic culture. There were many gods and goddesses that were worshiped for different reasons. Even small communities within the Roman Empire recognized their own deities along with the more popular gods and goddesses. As time progressed, Roman Emperors were soon included with the polytheistic worship. Julius Caesar himself claimed to be a descendant of Venus, the sun god. Because Caesar was so popular, the idea of worshiping Emperors grew and was followed after his death. The Romans could worship Jupiter one day and Apollo the next with no conflict. The Romans felt, just as most followers of any religion, that by worshiping the gods and goddesses they kept threats at bay; such as natural disasters, a harvest from failing, famine, or a widespread sickness. They worshiped to prevent bad things from happening, so...