The first century of the common era was a period of intense religious activity across the Mediterranean, when missionaries and theologians carried new teachings along the routes of a connected ancient world. Into this era Paul was born, around the year 5, in Tarsus, and he would go on to become one of the most consequential religious figures of his age.

A rabbi, theologian, apostle, and missionary, Paul worked in several capacities at once. He was also an artisan and a traveler, and his citizenship was that of Ancient Rome. He used multiple languages in the course of his life and work — Koine Greek, Ancient Greek, Latin, and Hebrew — moving through a world in which facility across linguistic traditions was a practical necessity for anyone engaged in the spread of religious teaching.

The written record attributed to Paul is gathered in the Pauline epistles, a body of work that constitutes the primary textual legacy of his activity as a writer and missionary. These texts represent Paul working simultaneously as a theologian and as an apostle engaged in spreading the teachings of Jesus throughout the first century, the role for which he is identified in the historical record as Paul, the Apostle, Saint.

The precise date of Paul's death is uncertain, with sources placing it variously in 64, 65, or 66. What the record does consistently indicate is that he died in Rome — a long remove from Tarsus, the city of his birth. He had lived as a traveler and missionary, a rabbi and writer, a citizen of Ancient Rome who used the languages of several traditions in the course of work that spanned much of the first century. His authorized designation remains Paul, the Apostle, Saint.