According to Irenaeus[1], Jerome,[2] Eusebius,[3] John Chrysostom,[4] the Liberian Catalogue[5] and the Liber Pontificalis,[6] Linus was the second Bishop of Rome, succeeding Saint Peter and succeeded by Anacletus. Irenaeus identifies him with the Linus mentioned in 2 Timothy,[7] although this identification is not certain. The Liberian Catalogue and the Liber Pontificalis both date his Episcopate to AD 56–67 during the reign of Nero, but Jerome dates it to 67–-78, and Eusebius dates the end of his Episcopate to the second year of the reign of Titus (80).

Other sources disagree on Linus's place in the succession of Popes. Tertullian[8] says that Peter was succeeded by Clement I. The Apostolic Constitutions[9] says that Linus was the first Bishop of Rome, ordained by Paul, and was succeeded by Clement, who was ordained by Peter.

According to the Liber Pontificalis, Linus was an Italian from Tuscany, and his father's name was Herculanus. The Apostolic Constitutions names his mother as Claudia. The Liber Pontificalis also says that he issued a decree that women should cover their heads in church, and that he died a martyr and was buried on the Vatican Hill next to Peter. It gives the date of his death as 23 September, the date on which his feast is still celebrated.[10]

A tomb found in St. Peter's Basilica in 1615 by Torrigio was inscribed with the letters LINUS, and was once taken to be Linus's tomb. However a manuscript of Torrigio shows that these were merely the last five letters of a longer name (e.g. Aquilinus or Anullinus). A letter on the martyrdom of Peter and Paul was once attributed to him, but in fact dates to the 6th century.[11]

Elsewhere, in what appears to be a relatively recent British Israelite legend, Claudia, identified as the historical Claudia Rufina, is given as Linus's sister, and both are said to have been children of the Iron Age Brythonic chieftain, Caratacus.[12]

References

1. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:3.3
2. Jerome, Chronicon 14g (p. 267)
3. Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 3.2, 3.13, 5.6
4. John Chrysostom, Homily X
5. The Chronography of 354 AD Part 13: Bishops of Rome
6. Liber Pontificalis 2
7. 2 Timothy 4:21
8. Tertullian, On the Prescription of Heretics 32
9. Apostolic Constitutions 7.4
10. Roman Martyrology: September 23
11. * "Pope St. Linus" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
12. George Jowett, The Drama of the Lost Disciples, 1961