A very simple question… what religion were the Romans at the time of Jesus Christ? Did they had their own many gods or were they monotheistic? Any prophets or did they just had their kings?
All of the above :D
In some ways Roman religion is a lot like Greek religion, but in other ways it is very different. Like the Greeks, the Romans thought that there were many gods, and that these gods each controlled different parts of the world: storms, the ocean, marriage, blacksmithing, and so forth.
The Romans were particularly interested in power, and much less interested in balance than the Greeks.
The chief of the gods, for the Romans, was Jupiter. His name is related to the name of the Greek god Zeus, and Jupiter is similar to Zeus in many ways. They are both sky gods who throw lightning bolts when they are angry.
For the Romans, as well, their emperors were gods, or something very close to gods, depending on who you asked. Generally in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, in Egypt and Western Asia, people worshipped the emperors as gods. But in the western part, in Europe, people worshipped only the emperor's guardian angel or something like that, not the emperor himself.
Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, Diana, Mars, Cupid, Minerva, Mercury, Vulcan, janus, Saturn, Ceres there are others I cant remember, Hercules maybe although he was not really classified as a god, but there are a few others
there were external infuences most importantly the Greek and the etruscan mythologies. most Roman Gods..if not all are aligned with greek gods, as funguy noted jupiter being zues, and, cupid ebing eros, Juno is Hera, mercury is Hermes etc etc.
Jupiter went through several updates as time went, from a gof predominantly attributed with agriculture he was later known as God of war. for roman republic he was Jupiter Lucetius, teh god of sun and moonlight, Jupiter Elicius , the god of wind, rain, thunder, lightning etc As the roman empire emerged he was adapted to become Jupitor Victor, Jupiter Strator names for warrior god,
As teh empire became more established he was seen more as a protector god Jupietr Optimus Maximus i.e. great god of the empire, Jupiter Conservator Orbis i.e. protector of the empire and some other names
The Roman Gods/Godesses
Jupiter - King of the Gods
Juno - Queen of the Gods
Neptune - God of the Sea
Pluto - God of Death
Apollo - God of the Sun
Diana - Goddess of the Moon
Mars - God of War
Venus - Goddess of Love
Cupid - God of Love
Mercury - Messenger of the Gods
Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom
Ceres - The Earth Goddess
Proserpine - Goddess of the Underworld
Vulcan - The Smith God
Bacchus - God of Wine
Saturn - God of Time
Vesta - Goddess of the Home
Janus - God of Doors
Uranus - Father of Saturn
Maia - Goddess of Growth
Flora - Goddess of Flowers
Plutus - God of Wealth