Some members of the Early Church thought the End Times were right around the corner, while others thought that as long as the Roman Empire remained standing, they had nothing to worry about.  For Revelation foretold of the fall of the Roman Empire and its resurrection, thus many reasoned that as long as the Roman Empire remained, the False Messiah would remain a future event.  They were living before the fall, though we have seen it fall and rise again in the form of the EU.

Augustine (4th century) had this to say,

"as for the words,

"And now ye know what withholdeth,"
i.e.,  ye know what hindrance or cause
of delay there is,  "that he might be
revealed in his own time;"

they show that he was unwilling to make an explicit statement, because he said that they knew.  And thus we who have not their knowledge wish and are not able even with pains to understand what the apostle referred to, especially as his meaning is made still more obscure by what he adds.  For what does he mean by

"For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work:  only that which
[or "he who"] now holdeth, let
him hold until he be taken out
of the way:  and then shall the
wicked be revealed?" 

I frankly confess I do not know what he means.  I will nevertheless mention such conjectures as I have heard or read. Some think that the Apostle Paul referred to the Roman empire, and that he was unwilling to use language more explicit, lest he should incur the calumnious charge of wishing ill to the empire which it was hoped would be eternal; so that in saying, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work," he alluded to Nero, whose deeds already seemed to be as the deeds of Antichrist.  And hence some suppose that he shall rise again and be Antichrist.  Others, again, suppose that he is not even dead, but that he was concealed that he might be supposed to have been killed, and that he now lives in concealment in the vigor of that same age which he had reached when he was believed to have perished, and will live until he is revealed in his own time and restored to his kingdom.  But I wonder that men can be so audacious in their conjectures. "

(Augustine in The City of God, Chapter 19)

Victorinus (circa 240 AD) also seems to hold this view, saying,

"he was in the kingdom of the Romans, and that he was among the Caesars. The Apostle Paul also bears witness, for he says to the Thessalonians: "Let him who now restraineth restrain, until he be taken out of the way" (COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE OF THE BLESSED JOHN chapter 11, passage 7)

Victorinus adds no analysis, as if by merely quoting it, the reader will already understand it is talking about Rome.  Thus this must have been a popular concept in his era.

In Homily 4, John Chrysostom (4th century AD) quotes 2 Thess 2 and says,

"One may naturally enquire, what is that which withholdeth, and after that would know, why Paul expresses it so obscurely.... Some indeed say, the grace of the Spirit, but others the Roman empire, to whom I most of all accede. Wherefore? Because if he meant to say the Spirit, he would not have spoken obscurely, but plainly.....But because he said this of the Roman empire, he naturally glanced at it, and speaks covertly and darkly. For he did not wish to bring upon himself superfluous enmities, and useless dangers. For if he had said that after a little while the Roman empire would be dissolved, they would immediately have even overwhelmed him..." (Homily 4)

He's got a good point.  Lactantius (250-325 AD) had this to say,

"as the end of this world approaches, the condition of human affairs must undergo a change...the Roman name, by which the world is now ruled, will be taken away from the earth, and the government return to Asia; and the East will again bear rule, and the West be reduced to servitude." (The Divine Institutes, Book 7, Chapter 15)

I am not saying they nailed it, but thought I'd pass this on because I found it interesting and something to consider.

Shalom,

Joe