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.