Jesus as rebel: crucifixion and the Romans

Here's a thought.

Jesus was most likely crucified by the Romans because they considered him a political threat. Religious claims and inter-Jewish rivalry wouldn't matter so much to the Romans as someone making political claims. His cross was tagged with the statement "king of the Jews," which defined his crime by Roman standards. His claim to kingship brought him the death sentence. But what about his apostles? Would the Romans ignore his closest followers if they meant to put down a rebellion? Isn't it interesting that the idea of crucifying the apostles never even comes up? Let's face it, the Romans were fairly brutal about this -- why spare his closest associates? The gospels make various claims as to his popularity, but even Mark indicates that he had thousands of people listening to him (feeding the 4,000 and 5,000 for instance.) Those all weren't followers, but they indicate that Jesus had some popularity.

Another question about the gospels account of JC.