Which city reigned over the kings of the earth in John’s day? It was Rome, the City of Seven Hills. But why is Rome called Babylon? The early Church used the term Babylon as a code word for Rome. And from the earliest time this woman has been recognized as Rome.
   Tertullian (155–222) “So, again, Babylon, in our own John, is a figure of the city Rome, as being equally great and proud of her sway, and triumphant over the saints.” – Tertulian Answer to the Jews Chapter 9 “[Rome] That powerful state which presides over the seven mountains and very many waters, has merited from the Lord the appellation of a prostitute.” – Tertulian Book 2 Chapter 12.
    Hippolytus [170-236] “Tell me, blessed John, apostle and disciple of the Lord, what didst thou see and hear concerning Babylon? Arise, and speak; for it sent thee also into banishment [Rome Banished John]. “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” – Treatise on Christ and AntiChrist.
    Victorinus [250AD]“The seven heads are the seven hills, on which the woman sitteth. That is, the city of Rome”. – Commentary on the Apocalypse.
    Eusebius [325AD] “And Peter makes mention of Mark in his first epistle which they say that he wrote in Rome itself, as is indicated by him, when he calls the city, by a figure, Babylon” – Church History Eusebius Book 2 Chapter 15.
    St. Jerome [382AD] “Read the apocalypse of John, and consider what is sung therein of the woman arrayed in purple, and of the blasphemy written upon her brow, of the seven mountains, of the many waters, and of the end of Babylon. “Come out of her, my people,” so the Lord says, “that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” It is true [of] that Rome...” – Letters of St. Jerome, letter 46.
    Augustine [425AD] “Rome herself is like a second Babylon..... To be brief, the city of Rome was rounded, like another Babylon, and as it were the daughter of the former Babylon, ” – Augustine The City Of GOD Book 18, Chapter 2, 22.
    When did the Church unite to the Roman State? In 312 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine professed to be a Christian. He had previously been a pagan devoted to the worship of the sun-god Mithra. In AD 313, Constantine, in the Edict of Milan, ordered that all persecution of Christians to be stopped. He also ordered all property taken from Christians during the preceding years of persecution to be returned. Constantine then began to steadily increase the authority of the Roman Bishop. (see the Encyclopedia Britannica, Edict of Milan).
    Then in 330 AD Emperor Constantine moved his capital to Constantinople, and for all practical purposes he turned over the city of Rome to the Roman Pontiff. Who continued to grow in power and pride. In March of 533 AD Justinian proclaimed the Pope to be the “Head of All Churches” and gave him the authority to ‘correct heretics’. In his famous letter to John the Archbishop of Rome Justinian declared.
    “We do not suffer that anything which is mooted, however clear and unquestionable, pertaining to the state of the churches, should fail to be made known to Your Holiness, as being THE HEAD OF ALL THE CHURCHES. For as we have said before we are zealous for the increase of the honor and authority of your see in all respects”. (Code of Justinian, lib.1 tit. 1; as given by R.F. Littledale in the Peterine Claims, Pg. 293.)
    As we have before seen, in 538AD Vigilius was given the papal chair by the Emperor and was provided military protection by Belisarius. By the 800 AD the Papacy, by all practical purposes, had become the Emperor of the west. As noted in the Encarta Encylopedia.
    “The pope (Leo III) thus broke the ties with Constantinople and created a new western empire by crowning Charlemagne emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day, 800… . Leo and his successors definitely benefited from gaining temporal authority over central Italy, in the region known as the Papal States. The coronation also symbolically promoted both the papacy and the Frankish kings to a level of authority comparable only to that of the Byzantine emperor. . When Leo's successor seized an opportunity to continue the tradition by crowning Charlemagne's son Louis I in 817, the precedent of papal coronation was established. By granting the title of emperor, the papacy gained a huge influence over all subsequent imperial candidates, ensuring the pope's role in legitimizing western emperors for centuries to come.” (Encarta Encyclopedia --- The Holy Roman Empire).
    The Papacy’s “Holy Roman” Empire was established on Christmas Day 800AD, and it endured for one thousand years. It was officially dissolved in 1806 AD by Emperor Francis II. For most of its duration it was comprised of the following seven states: Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, and of course Italy.
(Extract from http://www.babylonforsaken.com/rev12.html)

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