reconstructing the situation of the Christian community in Rome at the time of Paul’s letter. Its origin is obscure and its composition and nature in Paul’s day unclear. The tradition that the church in Rome was founded by Peter (or Peter and Paul together) cannot be right.6 It is in this very letter that Paul enunciates the principle that he will “not build on another person’s foundation” (15:20). This makes it impossible to think that he would have written this letter, or planned the kind of visit