Since the concept of a "pagan pope" became very popular during the times of romantic nationalism and very little is actually known about the temple, interpretations abound. S. C. Rowell suggests that Peter von Dusburg invented the place to make the Baltic religion appear like a "counter-church". There are many similarities between Romuva and the Christian church: in a place called after Rome lived a man treated like a pope with his own messengers and insignia. Such an account could have served several purposes: to demonstrate that pagans are so well organized that they have their own pope and pose a serious threat, to shame Christians into respecting their own pope, or to make pagan society easier to understand to a Christian reader.