The apocalyptic Revelation of John is filled with strange and vivid imagery depicting beasts, birth and battles. When considering the Christian perspective of the Roman empire during the time this book was written, it is interesting to note how the dualistic images seem to paint a picture of the ancient Roman-Christian experience, at least in John’s perspective. In Chapter 12, John describes a scene in heaven where a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns is facing a woman “clothed with the sun” who is about to give birth to a son. The dragon waits to devour the child, but as soon as he is born, the child is snatched away and taken to God and his throne (12:5). The woman flees and is protected and nourished by God, and war breaks out among the beast and the angels, leading to the dragon’s defeat. The dragon is furious and the scene shifts from heaven to earth in Chapter 13, as a new beast arises out of the sea, also with seven heads and ten horns. The dragon empowers the beast and gives it authority, and the whole earth follows the beats. The beast is described as blasphemous (13:1,5-6) and worshiped by the people of earth as he makes war on the saints. Also mentioned in this section is the “Lamb that was slaughtered,” (13:8). A second beast arises, this time out of the earth, and through great signs, dupes the people of earth into further blasphemous worship of the first beast. Those who refuse are killed, and oppression ensues. The parallels here are quite interesting. It seems clear that this intense good vs. evil story is actually depicting Rome vs. Christians. If this is the case, the woman in Chapter 12 would seem to be possibly Mary the mother of Jesus, which would make sense as the boy (Jesus) is taken away to God’s throne and then the war breaks out and “those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus” (12:17) is the new target (the Christians). Rome itself is played by the dragon, the first beast depicting the Emperor and the second beast represents the false prophets who encouraged people to worship the Emperor. If this analysis is correct, it paints a very negative view of Rome and Roman society from John’s perspective. He sees the empire as evil, oppressing, deceitful and blasphemous. This would speak to Christians who experienced mistreatment and the threat of death because of their refusal to worship the emperor rather than Christ. John calls for “endurance and faith of the saints” (13:10) to not be deceived or fall away from the gospel, but to hold on for the coming final defeat and destruction of their oppressor. Good will overcome evil, according to John. Christians will be victorious in the end, but they must endure their suffering and live with wisdom.