Research into New Testament literature has increasingly, albeit slowly, opened up to include in its exegesis historical studies of the society and economy of the Hellenistic and Roman worlds. New insights into Roman social structure, the role of the family, ancient associations, and Roman law, as well as economic aspects, have all enhanced research into the sociohistorical dimensions of the events depicted in the Gospels and the history of early Christian communities, and have helped to illuminate the origins of early Christianity in its ancient social context. However, the sociohistorical studies that have been employed are based primarily on historical accounts, biographies of emperors, honorary inscriptions, and Roman jurisdiction which inform us first and foremost about the elites of the Roman world. As such, they tell us very little about the common people who predominate the gospels in early Christian writings. . . . Papyri and the Social World of the New Testament aims to focus on the lower classes of Roman provincial society. . . . Admittedly, conducting in-depth studies of the common people in Roman Galilee or Judaea, where most of the New Testament accounts are anchored, is nearly impossible due to a lack of sources. It is in the nearby Roman province of Egypt — and there alone — that we find sources in large quantities that provide information on the everyday lives of the Roman provincial middle and lower classes. Hundreds of thousands of papyri, preserved by favorable environmental conditions, report on details of life in Roman times, including individuals’ daily fears and worries, which are unavailable with this degree of quality and in this quantity in any other sources. . . . The immediate and personal character of papyri and ostraca grants us insights into the lives and ordinary existence of the majority of the population, thereby constituting a particularly fascinating type of ancient source. The documents permit the ordinary people of the ancient world to speak to us just as they spoke to one another. The voices of those who never appear in ancient literature — artisans, peasants, shepherds, and fishermen, their wives and children — are suddenly heard.

Sabine R. Huebner, Papyri and the Social World of the New Testament, 1-3.