Saint Peter

===Coming to Rome===

====New Testament accounts====
There is no obvious biblical evidence that Peter was ever in Rome, but the first epistle of Peter does mention that "The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son."<ref name="bibleverse|1 Peter|5:13">{{bibleverse|1 Peter|5:13}}</ref> It is not certain whether this refers to the actual Babylon or to Rome, for which Babylon was a common nickname at the time, or to the Jewish diaspora in general, as a recent theory has proposed.<ref name="Zwierlein review"/><ref name=Vision/>

Paul's [[Epistle to the Romans]], written about AD 57,<ref name="Franzen, p.26">Franzen, ''A Concise History of the Church''. p. 16</ref> greets some fifty people in Rome by name,<ref name="bibleverse||Romans|16">{{bibleverse||Romans|16}}</ref> but not Peter [[Incident at Antioch|whom he knew]]. There is also no mention of Peter in Rome later during Paul's two-year stay there in Acts 28, about AD 60–62. With regards to the latter, Acts 28 does not specifically mention any of Paul's visitors.

====Church Fathers====
The writings of the 1st century Church Father [[Ignatius of Antioch]] (c. 35 – c. 107), whose authenticity is disputed,<ref>{{cite web|author=  Jonathon Lookadoo|title=The Date and Authenticity of the Ignatian Letters: An Outline of Recent Discussions|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1476993X20914798 |website=|access-date=6 February 2024}}</ref> refer to Peter and Paul giving admonitions to the Romans, indicating Peter's presence in Rome.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ignatius of Antioch|title=The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0107.htm|website=newadvent.org|access-date=15 August 2016}}</ref>

[[Irenaeus|Irenaeus of Lyons]] (c. 130 – c. 202) wrote in the [[Christianity in the 2nd century|2nd century]] that Peter and Paul had been the founders of the Church in Rome and had appointed [[Pope Linus|Linus]] as succeeding bishop.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.ix.iv.iv.html|title=Philip Schaff: ANF01. The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus - Christian Classics Ethereal Library|website=www.ccel.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Saint Irenaeus |first=of Lyon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXO1wgEACAAJ&q=against+heresies+book+3 |title=The Third Book of St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, Against Heresies |date=13 November 2018 |publisher=Creative Media Partners, LLC |isbn=978-0-353-54233-4 |language=en |chapter=3.2}}</ref>

[[Clement of Alexandria]] (c. 150 – c. 215) states that "Peter had preached the Word publicly at Rome ''(A.D. 190).''"<ref name="CL">{{cite web|author=Eusebius of Caesarea|title=Church History Book VI, Chapter 14:6|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250106.htm|access-date=1 June 2015}}</ref>

According to [[Origen]] (184–253)<ref name="ReferenceC"/> and [[Eusebius]],<ref name="Eusebius"/> Peter "after having first founded the church at Antioch, went away to Rome preaching the Gospel, and he also, after [presiding over] the church in Antioch, presided over that of Rome until his death".<ref>Eusebius, in his Chronicle (A.D. 303) ''[Chronicle, 44 A.D. [[Patrologia Graeca]] 19:539]''.</ref> After presiding over the church in Antioch for a while, Peter would have been succeeded by [[Evodius]]<ref>{{cite web|author=Eusebius|title=Church History Book III Chapter 36:2|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm|publisher=newadvent.org|access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> and thereafter by [[Ignatius of Antioch|Ignatius]], who was a disciple of [[John the Apostle]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Eusebius|title=Church History Book III Chapter 22|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm|publisher=newadvent.org|access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>

[[Lactantius]], in his book called ''Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died'', written around 318, noted that "and while Nero reigned, the Apostle Peter came to Rome, and, through the power of God committed unto him, wrought certain miracles, and, by turning many to the true religion, built up a faithful and stedfast temple unto the Lord."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lucius Caecilius Firmianus|first1=Lactantius|title=Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died Chapter 2|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf07.iii.v.ii.html|publisher=ccel.org|access-date=1 June 2015}}</ref>

====Simon Magus====
[[Eusebius]] of Caesarea (260/265–339/340) relates that when Peter confronts [[Simon Magus]] at Judea (mentioned in Acts 8), Simon Magus flees to Rome, where the Romans began to regard him as a god. According to Eusebius, his luck did not last long, since God sent Peter to Rome, and Simon was quenched and immediately destroyed.<ref>{{cite web|author=Eusebius|title=Church History Book II, Chapter 14–15|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250102.htm|access-date=1 June 2015}}</ref>

According to [[Jerome]] (327–420): "Peter went to Rome in the second year of Claudius to overthrow Simon Magus, and held the sacerdotal chair there for twenty-five years until the last, that is the fourteenth, year of Nero."<ref name="Jerome1" />

An apocryphal work, the ''Actus Vercellenses'' (7th century), a Latin text preserved in only one manuscript copy published widely in translation under the title Acts of Peter, sets Peter's confrontation with Simon Magus in Rome.<ref>Lapham, ''Introduction'', p. 72</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/actspeter.html|title=The Acts of Peter|website=www.earlychristianwritings.com}}</ref>