As an interesting item that I came across . . .
Irenaeus possibly gives evidence that he thought that 2 Timothy was written during (one of ?) Paul’s Roman imprisonment(s). He notes that the first bishop of Rome after the apostles was Linus: ‘Paul mentions this Linus in the letters to Timothy’ (AH 3.3.3).
Linus, along with Prudens, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters serve as those who greet Timothy (2 Tim 4.21).
It would appear that Irenaeus thinks this is a subsequent imprisonment to the one recorded in Acts 28. [Update: I’ll pick up the reasoning for this in a second post.]
Dunelm Road 
Sunday, 31 October 2010 at 2:26 am
While I agree that Irenaeus probably though 2 Tim was composed in Rome due to the mention of Linus, I’m not following your reasoning that Irenaeus also thought the 2 Tim imprisonment was one after Acts 28.
Sunday, 31 October 2010 at 6:58 am
I see your point. I originally had one longer post, but decided to split it into two. The second half gets into the timing a little more. But late night blogging leads to choppy transitions…
Wednesday, 3 November 2010 at 4:29 pm
[…] of 2 Timothy and that Linus in 2 Timothy 4.21 was the first bishop of Rome after the apostles; see here. Irenaeus says he was writing when Eleutherius was the 12th bishop of Rome after the apostles […]
Wednesday, 10 November 2010 at 8:12 am
[…] Following up on my earlier post on 2 Timothy in Rome… […]