Plausebility Check: The whore of Persia

The Biblical Whore of Babylon is usually interpreted as the pagan Roman Empire and sometimes as Jerusalem.

What if Babylon is interpreted litteraly as Babylon?

Could the later Christian emperors use the allegory of the Whore as propaganda against the Persians? Let's assume a longer Persian-Roman rivalry (maybe no Islam).
 
Do you really need a longer one? The Romans and the Persians had a rivalry going back pretty much since they've had a border with one another.
 
The logic only works if you don't have powerful states in between the Christian world and Persia.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Do you really need a longer one? The Romans and the Persians had a rivalry going back pretty much since they've had a border with one another.
Rome being Christian is important here and Christian Rome versus Persia existed for "only" 300 years.

The logic only works if you don't have powerful states in between the Christian world and Persia.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

Exactly what I thought.
 
Rome being Christian is important here and Christian Rome versus Persia existed for "only" 300 years.



Exactly what I thought.


But at the time of the Book of Revelations authorship, Rome was still virtually entirely 'pagan' and non-Christian [and its capital was well-known all over the known world for being a hotbed of intrigue and corruption]. Hence, although, I think later Christian generations of Romans may have winced at the finger being pointed at them and tried to deflect it to enemy nations, at the time I believe the tag likely did refer to the Romans and not the Persians or even the Babylonians.
 
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