Peter Oakes relies on demographic information and data from excavations in nearby Pompeii to paint a compelling portrait of daily life in a typical insula, or apartment complex, like the ones in which Paul s audience in Rome likely lived. Imaginatively fleshing out profiles of the circumstances of actual residents of Pompeii, Oakes then uses these profiles to invite the reader into a new way to hear Paul's letter to the Romans as the apostle s contemporaries might have heard it. The result of this ground-breaking study is a fuller, richer appreciation of Paul's most important letter.