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One prominent approach to the study of early Christianity in recent decades has been to focus on the history of the earliest Christian communities in individual cities. Peter Lampe's study of the Christians in Rome is now widely cited as the key study of the earliest Christians in Rome. This chapter focuses on the Lampe's work in Rome, and Ephesus. It addresses the following questions: Can the life of the earliest Christians in these two major cities of the Empire be fruitfully compared; and are there significant similarities or differences in the conclusions reached in these studies of Rome and Ephesus. Lampe speaks of the "phenomenon of local fragmentation" in connection with the Christians in Rome. Both fractionation and fragmentation are helpful terms that Lampe uses with regard to the Christians in Rome. A range of factors contributed to both the development and perpetuation of fractionation.