The empire of ancient Rome. In the apostolic age, the Roman Empire was the one great power of the world. It included everything between the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, the Atlantic, and the Sahara desert. Palestine became a client state in 63 B.C., when Pompey took Jerusalem. Although the Romans granted the Jews many privileges, the Jews hated Roman rule and were constantly in rebellion.
Paul, a Roman citizen, used Greek, the most commonly used language of the empire, to spread the gospel throughout the empire.