Eleutherus of Rome
Eleutherus is the twelfth figure counted from the apostles in Irenaeus's Roman succession argument and the bishop of Rome in Irenaeus's own time.
Primary sources
Irenaeus concludes the sequence:
Irenaeus names Eleutherus as the current holder of the Roman episcopate, counting him twelfth from the apostles; this edition spells the name “Eleutherius.”
Alexander followed Evaristus; then, sixth from the apostles, Sixtus was appointed; after him, Telephorus, who was gloriously martyred; then Hyginus; after him, Pius; then after him, Anicetus. Soter having succeeded Anicetus, Eleutherius does now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, hold the inheritance of the episcopate.
Passage context and translation
The list follows Irenaeus's statement that Evaristus succeeded Clement. It is a late second-century office sequence used to argue for public teaching, not a record naming each ordaining bishop.
Before the excerpt
To this Clement there succeeded Evaristus.
After the excerpt
In this order, and by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles ... have come down to us.