For example Romulus became the god of Quirinus. Priests were government officials who were elected or appointed to office. They performed sacrifices and other ceremonies to win the favor of the gods for the state. The most important priests were the pontiffs.The chief priest was known as the pontifex maximus. During the empire, this position was always held by the emperor. An important feature of Roman religion was divination which was the telling of the future and asking the gods to ward off their anger. The Sibylline Books, a set of religious texts, showed how to deal with natural occurrences such as earthquakes, or storms. Roman religion became more political, people turned to other religions. As Rome expanded and grew, the Romans came in contact with people who worshiped other gods. If those people had fought extremely well, the Romans figured that their gods must be pretty good, so the Romans adopted those gods and made them Roman gods as well. Christianity became a popular alternative to Roman religion. Christians refused to worship Roman gods, and that was against the law. Because Christianity wasn't allowed, they met in