Cesar Augustus was the 1st emperor.
Caligula- started off well, granting bonuses to those in the military. Declaring treason trials a thing of the past, and made government spending a matter of public record. He then began to fight with the senate. Claimed to be a god. He put statues of himself all over the place even in the Jewish temples. Spent much of the money of Rome on big huge orgies for him and his friend. He was just nuts. Assassinated by his own aides at 28 years old.
Next comes Claudius- he had a bad limp, speech impediment. Her rose to the occasion he expanded the Empire somewhat into Britain. He add on the roads and canals. He was doing all the right things. His wife was a tramp. And tried to have him killed and have her lover become emperor. So Claudius had his wife and her lover killed.
 Christianity and Judaism monotheistic.
Romans had many gods, plus at times the emperor was viewed as a god.
A group of Jews called the zealots tried to rebel against the Romans, but they failed so the Romans destroyed them and burned down their biggest temple except one wall. It is called the Western Wall. They claim it is there holiest of all Jewish shrines. Half of million Jews were killed during this rebellion.
Romans would be harsh to the ones that did not worship the emperor. Especially Christians who were viewed as followers of a new upstart religion. Despite the oppression, Christianity grew quickly by AD 200 around 10 percent of the people in the Roman empire were Christians.