Executing Babylon the Great -ConClusion

 Roman's Eastern Empire, centered at Constantinople, endured 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 the Empire areas of Macedonia that had been conquered by Slavic tribesmen. By the eighth century, however, much of the former territory of ancient Rome in North Africa, Spain, and Syria had come under the new empire of 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 Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, and Russians until 1203 it finally feel-not to Muslims but to Crusaders from the West. In 1453 though it came under the power of the Muslim Ottoman ruler Mehmed II and soon became capital of the Ottoman, or Turkish Empire . Thus,  although the city of Rome fell in 410 C.E., it took many more centuries for all traces of the political Roman Empire to pass from the world scene. And even then, its influence  was still discernible in religious empires based on the papacy of Rome 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 force both countries to recognize 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  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 to the long reign of the sixth head, the seventh remains only  "a short while," until God's Kingdom destroys all national entities. 

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

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