Chapter Thirty-Five -Executing Babylon the Great

Rome's Easter Empire, centered at Constantinople, enduring in a somewhat uneasy relationship with the Western Empire. In the sixth century, Eastern emperor Justinian I was able  to reconquer much of North Africa, and he also intervened in Spain and Italy.  In the seventh century, Justinian II recovered for the Empire areas of Macedonia that had been conquered by Slavic tribesmen.  By the eighty century,  however, much of the former territory of ancient Rome in North Africa, Spain and Syria had some under the new empire of the Islam and thus passed from the control of both Constantinople and Rome. 


The city of Constantinople itself endured somewhat longer. It survived frequent attacks from the Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, and Russians until 1203.  It finally fell-not to the Muslims but to Crusaders from the West. In 1453, though, it came under the power of the Muslim Ottoman ruler of Mehmed II and soon became capital of the Ottoman, or Turkish Empire. Thus, although the city of Rome fells in 410 C.E., it took many more centuries for all traces of the political Roman Empire to pass away from the world scene. And even then, its influence was still discernible. In religious empires based on the papacy of Roman and the Eastern Orthodox churches.


By the 15th century, however, some countries were building  brand-new empires. While some of these new imperial powers were found in the territory of former colonies of Rome, their empires were not mere continuations of the Roman Empire. Portugal, Spain, France, and Holland all became seats of far-flung domains.  But the most successful was Britain, which came to preside over a huge empire on which 'the sun never set.'  This empire spread  at different times over much of North America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, as well as the expanse of the South Pacific.


By the 19th century, some of the colonies in North America had already broken away from Britain to form the independent United States of America. Politically, some conflict between the new nation and the former motherland continued. Nevertheless, the first world war  forced both  countries to recognize their common  interests and cemented a special relationship between them. Thus, a kind of dual world power came to exist, made up of the United States of America, now the world's wealthiest nation, and Great Britain Seat of the world's largest empire.  Here, then, is the seventh 'head,' or world power, that continues into the time of the end and in the territories of which the modern-day witnesses of Jehovah first got established. Compared with the long reign of the sixth head, the seven remains only  "a short while," until God's Kingdom destroys all national entities.


Next time: Chapter Thirty-Five -Executing Babylon the Great - Why Called an Eighth King?


From the book of Revelation