In recent years the New Testament writings have increasingly been read in the cultural and political context of the early Roman Empire. In Roman Imperial Texts, students and scholars now have a ready handbook of the most important sources for this context. A selection of the most important sources for the cultural and political context of the early Roman Empire and the New Testament writings, Roman Imperial Texts includes freshly translated public speeches, official inscriptions, annals, essays, poems, and documents of veiled protest from the Empire s subject peoples.