Bull, they were written to give power to the writers and religious leaders
Nope, religion has been used to control since day one
Bingo
I think that the ancient Romans glomed onto the Christian religion when they realized that it was becoming a pesky problem that challenged their power, and realized that they could wield that power for centuries to come. So, the brutal Romans became Christians.
I wonder if that somewhat softened their brutality?
Romans were also very good at propaganda. Their main move was to ask bystanders if they minded if they hung someone on a cross. Of course, the answer that they expected was "sure, go ahead." If that was not the forthcoming answer, they would proceed to torture and kill all objectors and their family. In this way, the brutal Romans were able to shed blame for their copious murders. The roads to Rome were littered with their casualties--a grim reminder that no one had better cross them, or interfere with their brutality in any way.
Jews were constantly blamed for Jesus getting crucified, yet, it was the Romans who did it and covered it up. Romans then ran the Christian religion for thousands of year...continuing to blame others for their sins.