13 I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. Romans 1:13-14
Once commissioned by Christ to reach out to Gentiles, Paul was immersed in the work. We know he encountered all kinds of persecutions and endured many trials along the way. Here it wasn’t Satan that thwarted him, but the inability to split himself in two.
Paul served at the pleasure of the Lord and the Master had yet to put Rome on his schedule. From time to time we make choices between two goods. This is the way it is.
Because Rome was Rome, Paul suspected that he’d find ripe fruit among all kinds of people in the city, i.e. Greeks, barbarians, wise, foolish, etc. Today it would be immigrants, gang members, college professors, gamers, students, agnostics, and yes, churchgoers. Regardless, Paul sought them all.
His job, in addition to ministering to the saints there, was to add to their number.
At the Gate 