A Quick Note to Readers

I just want to make it clear to my readers that I think the possibility might have existed whereby the double throne of Peter and Paul in Rome might have corresponded to TWO episcopal figures in the Church. We all know that the bishop of Rome is identified as the heir of St. Peter. Yet I now wondering if the office of the 'bishop of the nations' was developed during the reign of Victor to govern the whole Church and not merely the region around the city of Rome and Italy. Under this scenario Gaius was clearly the first 'bishop of the nations' and it was he who actually carried out Victor's policies of 'cutting off' the churches of Asia Minor. Hippolytus was one of Gaius's successors. But I wonder if early in the reign of Zephyrinus, Irenaeus also held that post for a few years. Just speculation right now, but it is strange how much authority Irenaeus seems to wield in his writings alongside a sitting bishop of Rome ...