Next up, John gets to see the Whore of Babylon. She is a woman riding the Sea Beast (except this time it's scarlet-red) dressed in red and purple robes and dripping with gold and jewels and pearls. On her forehead, she has written: "Babylon, the great, mother of whores." John tells us she's been drinking the blood of the faithful. John is pretty amazed, but one of the angels asks him why. He has seen some pretty amazing things up until now. The angel then goes on to explain what the deal is with this woman. Basically, the short version is this: the woman represents Rome who seduces everyone with its beauty and charm, but is really just a prostitute. The Beast she rides on is Rome as well, specifically one of its emperors, Nero, who was especially nasty to Christians and liked to have them executed.
John sees yet another angel coming down from Heaven. This angel announces that Babylon (i.e., Rome) has fallen. However, some of the non-believers on Earth are too busy mourning the loss of Rome. Kings are sad because Rome was so mighty. Merchants and shopkeepers are bummed, too, because they really liked selling their goods to Rome. Sailors are also feeling a bit melancholy because they were making a lot of money by working with Rome.
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