"To understand the immediate cultural and societal background of the cities to which John wrote in Revelation 1 and 2, we must first understand the broader background of Roman civilization and its impact upon Asian province," writes Roland H. Worth in the introduction to this fascinating, information-packed work. It is an in-depth study of the history, culture, society, economics, and environment of early Christians living in Roman Asia.Drawing on a multitude of resources from diverse disciplines, Worth surveys Roman life and attitudes in general, and demonstrates how Roman power developed and was exercised in Asia. He describes life in Roman Asia: what it was like to live in that province, how the imperial cult grew and prospered there, as well as the nature of official governmental persecution in the first century.A second book, The Seven Cities of the Apocalypse and Greco-Asian Culture, will fill in the details of the local background of the Christians for whom the "mini-epistles" in the book of Revelation were written.