Rome

Rome was the capital of the empire that ruled the entire New Testament world, and it becomes the eventual destination of Paul's ministry, the recipient of one of his most theologically significant letters, and the traditional site of both Paul's and Peter's martyrdom.

Paul writes his letter to the Romans before ever visiting the city himself, expressing his long-held desire to come to them, and the letter stands as perhaps the most systematic, detailed presentation of the gospel found anywhere in the New Testament.

Romans 1:16 contains Paul's summary declaration of purpose: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth," a thesis the rest of the letter develops at length.

Paul eventually reaches Rome, though not in the manner he likely anticipated, arriving as a prisoner after appealing his case to Caesar following his arrest in Jerusalem, a journey that includes a dramatic shipwreck recorded in detail in the final chapters of Acts.

Acts closes with Paul under house arrest in Rome, yet still preaching "the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him," a hopeful, open-ended conclusion to Luke's historical narrative.

Paul's later letters, including his final epistle written from a Roman imprisonment, reflect increasingly difficult circumstances, and church tradition consistently holds that he was eventually executed in Rome, likely under Emperor Nero.

Peter's first epistle includes a greeting from "Babylon," widely understood by scholars as a coded reference to Rome, and church tradition similarly holds that Peter was martyred there, reportedly requesting to be crucified upside down out of a sense of unworthiness.