On the Israelites in Rome: Paul's letter is not written to Judaeans, per se, but to Romans in general. The context of the statements throughout his epistle makes that perfectly clear. But we are not told anywhere exactly how so many Romans (with Judaeans among them, it is evident) were already Christians by the time Paul wrote his epistle. The epistle was written before Paul himself had ever evangelized in Rome, and seems to have been written from Corinth about 56 AD, or (by my calculation) 24 years after the Resurrection of the Christ. Yet 24 years is a long time.
It is evident to me that the Romans - for the most part - were indeed Israelites of the earliest dispersions (pre-Exodus period) and I have illustrated that in my essay Classical Records of Trojan-Roman-Judah (thank you, VictorSwitzer).
It is also evident that Paul was compelled to go to Makedonia before he preached the Word to any of the Greeks of Asia. While it is not recorded in Acts, Paul must have also gone to Illyria at this time, as he explains in Romans 15:19. What is not evident to most people, is that the Illyrians descended from Dardans also, just as the Romans did. This, I believe, is the perfect demonstration of the fulfillment of that prophecy found at Zechariah 12:7:
The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.
Therefore it is evident, that members of both branches of the house of Judah received the gospel at the earliest possible time, and before most of the rest of the tribes of the dispersion.
Hope this helps,
Bill
