Roman religion was heavily influenced by the Greeks, by the sense that there were multiple gods who controlled different aspects of the world. (The Twelve Caesars, page 103) "As for Augustus' attitude towards religion: he is said to have been afraid of thunder and lightning." This shows that thunder and lightning were considered entities superior to that of the leader of Rome, and that it was good to be the positive side of the gods. During the period of Emperor Augustus, the rise of Christianity began but also the transition from a polytheistic vision to a monotheistic vision. This change worried the Romans greatly, so much so that they began to persecute the Christians. (Shaping Of Western Civilization, p. 146) “This persecution made sense to the Romans for several reasons. In the beginning Christianity was equally insistently monotheistic… This belief could only be an affront to all other gods.” Christianity believed that God was a single entity and was above others, but the Romans considered this almost a sign of betrayal towards the rest of the gods. For the Romans, worship was considered a public thing, while the Christians wanted their worship to be private, which made the Romans question the Christian faith. The fall of the Roman Empire led to the complete transition from a polytheistic vision to the institution of Christianity.