According to the Bible[1], the Romans punished him for breaking the law not because they feared or disliked him. It's even referenced as to how (I forget his name, Pontias Pilate, I think? I don't know.) gave the option to the Jews for him not to be crucified, and either they didn't speak up, or they just told them to do it.
If I remember, its different according to which gospel account you read.
From what I remember, most historical accounts show Pilate was not a wishy-washy, spineless wimp. He was a brutal ass-hole of the first degree. He probably would have had no problem skewering Jesus on a pike. Given that, I doubt he would have left the decision up to someone else.
The only people that seemed to hate Jesus, at the time, were the Jews.
According to the stories, I think the Romans believed that Jesus was a trouble-maker, and that he had the potential to start riots against the Roman rule.
Which is why for 2,000 years the stigma of "Jews killed Christ" has been around and not "The Romans killed Christ".
Again, I think it depends which gospel you read. If I remember, (and don't quote me on this) but it was the gospel of Matthew that made it seem like the Jews were at fault more than in any other gospel. Can anyone confirm that for me?
So, the only one's, I feel, who would destroy any record of Jesus would be the Jews.
I really think that the religion was so small and unimportant at the start, that the Jews didn't care about the whole Jesus thing. Probably right up until it became too big to handle, and by then, Jesus (if he existed) was long gone, and the Jews could not give solid evidence or testimony that he never existed.
So, why would such a person who could heal people, feed thousands, turn water into wine, rise from the dead, etc., not be mentioned by not only the Romans (even if insignificantly) but anyone else not Jewish?[2]
My thought is that he didn't exist (at least not in the divine form that can perform miracles). That would explain why the Romans never recorded those things. Because he never did them.
It's late and I'm tired. If there are errors in what I wrote, forgive me.