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M*W: With the barrage of new texts currently out in print, was Jesus really a creation of the Roman Emperors? I'm referring to:

Caesars Messian: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus, by Joseph Atwill

and

Jesus Was Caesar: On the Human Origin of Christian -- An investigative Report (Aspekt), by Francsco Carotta

I previously mentioned the theory of the literary creation of Jesus by the Roman Piso Family.

What's this all about? Why are the Romans now taking credit for their creation of the Jesus story. There are definite parallels between the life of Jesus and the life of Caesar. Could they possibly be one and the same?

Jesus did not exist in history, but Caesar did. Why the difference? Why did Rome need another god?

I doubt it, but they (Emperor Constantine) did usurp the idea because it was popular.

c.100AD, somewhere in Asia Minor...
... Interim in iis qui ad me tamquam Christiani deferebantur hunc sum secutus modum. Interrogavi ipsos an essent Christiani. Confitentes iterum ac tertio interrogavi, supplicium minatus; perseverantes duci iussi. ... (Pliny the Younger, to Emperor Trajan (http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/latin/pliny.html)).

Most likely the Romans just thought nothing of it. Just another rebellious guy in conquered territory, to them.