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Yes, they definitely had meddled with their own religion quite a bit, part of that was because the position of the Pontifex Maximus, originally a separate title, gradually merged with leadership, in large part because of Julius Caesar holding the position of Pontifex Maximus, Consul, Dictator, and then later Dictator Perpetuo all at the same time. In large part this is why he was betrayed and murdered, his consolidation of power and his cult of personality freaked out the Senate who basically did to him what the judeo-Democrats did/are doing to Trump, by spinning endless rumors and lies about how "we totally need to stop Adolfus Hitlerus because he's going to become a dictator! Oh wait he's already a dictator, he's going to be like... a SUPER dictator! Oh wait he's already that too! Reeee!"

Not be outdone, Augustus simply declared that the title of Emperor and the Pontifex Maximus were one and the same, which gave the emperor essentially free will to direct the religion however he wanted, not totally unlike the head of the Church of England is also the monarch, thus you had kings simply making up new religious laws when it benefit them (looking at you Henry VIII). Over time this led to a lot of nonsense like Emperor Caligula declaring himself a living god, and everyone just kind of had to pretend to go with it, because he was the Pontifex Maximus.

BTW definitely look into Aurelian. He was by far the greatest and most competent Emperor that ever held the title. When he took power Rome was essentially in the same state as the Weimar Republic - endless internal uprisings, dissolving borders, a collapsed economy, a devastating plague, and total degeneracy and instability. In five years, he restored the entire Empire to greatness. The city of Orleans in France is named after him.