The idea that gods were the supreme rulers over their spheres also explains why emperors were considered gods and had incense burned to their statues. It was a way of acknowledging that the emperor was the supreme figure in the political realm and of showing due loyalty and deference to him. Except for the Jews, who as monotheists were given a special dispensation not to participate in pagan religious activities, anyone who refused to burn incense to the emperor’s statue was refusing to acknowledge his political authority. This was treason, pure and simple, and so any non-Jew who refused to
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