"In this powerful and elegantly written books, Neil Elliott articulates a thesis that goes counter both to the older understanding of Romans as a summary of Paul's theology of law and gospel and also to the "new perspective" on Paul that centers on the apostles view of the relationship of Jew and Centile in the new order. Along the way, Elliott finds startling parallels between ancient Roman ideology and the Western world today." "Elliott shows how Paul's letter would have been read in the 50s from the context and categories of Roman state ideology, thereby rescuing the letter from a flight into noncorporeal spirituality. New and often startling insights are gained with respect to the major sections and themes of Paul's letter." "Elliott's fresh and surprising reinterpretation of Paul's letter in the context of Roman imperial ideology brings to Romans the latest insights from classical studies, rhetorical criticism, postcolonial criticism, and people's history. By setting the letter alongside Roman texts (Cicero, Virgil, the Res Gestae of Augustus, Seneca, poets from the age of Nero, as well as later historians and satirists), Elliott provides a dramatic new reading of the letter as Paul's confrontation with the arrogance of empire - and with an emerging Christianity already tempted by the seductive ideology of imperial power." "Provocative in its interpretation of specific points, Elliott's basic thesis scarcely can he ignored by subsequent interpreters of Paul."--BOOK JACKET.