1st Century AD (During the Roman Empire)
The early Christian church was emerging within a predominantly Greco-Roman world, with Jewish communities dispersed throughout the empire.
The Roman Empire was the dominant political force, with Emperor Tiberius ruling at the time of Paul's writing. The Jewish people were under Roman occupation, and there was tension between Jewish traditions and Roman laws.
The letter to the Romans was written by Paul while he was in Corinth, addressing the Christian community in Rome, the heart of the Roman Empire.
Jewish customs and the Law of Moses were central to Jewish identity, while Gentiles were largely unfamiliar with these traditions. The early church grappled with integrating Jewish and Gentile believers.
Paul the Apostle