Okay, I will review some of the evidence regarding Revelation.
We can start with the identification of Babylon in Revelation, which is clear. The Sibylline Oracles make an identification between Babylon and Rome explicit: "From heaven into the dreadful sea and burn the vast deep, and Babylon itself, and the land of Italy, because, of which there perished many holy faithful men among the Hebrews and a people true. ... Thou city of the Latin land ... And the river Tiber shall lament for thee." (Sibylline Oracles, at 5:215-230)
As I've written before, Rome as the great city Babylon mentioned in Revelation is the only hypothesis that explains all of the data in the text in a plausible manner, chiefly, (1) the description of the economic and political significance of the great city that rules over the world, (2) why the author has it out for the city, (3) indications of date of authorship during the exiles undertaken against some Jews in the reign of Domitian (81-96 AD) that bear against the pre-70 AD interpretation that is allied with understanding it as Jerusalem, (4) indications of provenance in the text that place the original Greek text in Roman Asia Minor for whom Babylon was just another dusty barbarian village, and (5) other details such as the cosmopolitan inhabitants there, the seven hills (for which Rome was famous), the fornication with client kingdoms, and the name "Babylon" itself represented as a "mystery" (not literally) that is to be understood as a reference to the one that sacked Jerusalem.
Next, we can be reasonably sure that Nero is portrayed as the beast and one of its heads. Again, we find evidence outside of Revelation for this kind of prophecy about Nero, both in non-Christian and Christian sources.
Ascension of Isaiah 4:2-3 has it thus: "After it is consummated, Beliar the great ruler, the king of this world, will descend, who hath ruled it since it came into being; yea, he will descent from his firmament in the likeness of a man, a lawless king, the slayer of his mother [i.e., Nero, who killed his mother Agrippina]: who himself (even) this king. Will persecute the plant which the Twelve Apostles of the Beloved have planted. Of the Twelve one [i.e., Peter] will be delivered into his hands."
Sibylline Oracles, book IV, 155-165: " A mighty king [i.e., Nero] shall like a runaway slave flee over the Euphrates' stream unseen, Unknown, who shall some time dare loathsome guilt Of matricide, and many other things, Having confidence in his most wicked hands. And many for the throne [i.e., Galba, Otho, Vitellius] with blood Rome's soil while he flees over Parthian land. And out of Syria shall come Rome's foremost man [i.e., Vespasian], Who having burned the temple of Solyma, And having slaughtered many of the Jews, Shall destruction on their great broad land."
Sibylline Oracles, book V has an interest in numerology and enumerating the emperors:
[Julius Caesar] The very first lord shall be, who shall sum
Twice ten with the first letter of his name;
In wars exceeding powerful shall he be;
And he shall have the initial sign of ten;
20 [Augustus] And in like manner after him to reign
Is one who has the alphabet's first letter;
Before him Thrace and Sicily shall crouch,
Then Memphis, Memphis cast headlong to earth
By reason of the cowardice of rulers
25 And of a woman unenslaved who falls
Upon the wave. And laws will he ordain
For peoples and put all things under him;
But after a long time shall he transmit
His power unto another, who shall have
30 [Tiberius] Three hundred for his first initial sign,
And of a river the beloved name,
And the Persians he shall rule and Babylon;
And then shall he smite Medians with his spear.
[Gaius / Caligula] Then shall one rule who has the initial sign
35 Of the number three. [Claudius] And then shall be a lord
Who shall for first initial have twice ten;
And he shall come to Ocean's utmost water
And by Ausonia cleave the refluent tide.
[Nero] And one whose mark is fifty shall be lord,
40 A dreadful serpent breathing grievous war,
Who sometime stretching forth his hands shall make
An end of his own race and stir all things,
Acting the athlete, driving chariots,
Putting to death and daring countless things;
45 And he shall cleave the mountain of two seas
And sprinkle it with gore; but out of sight
Shall also vanish the destructive man;
Then, making himself equal unto God,
Shall he return; but God will prove him naught.
50 [Galba, Otho, Vitellius] And after him shall three kings be destroyed
By one another. [Vespasian] Then a great destroyer
Of pious men shall come, whom seven times ten
Shall point out clearly. But from him a son,
[Titus] Whom the first letter of three hundred proves,
55 Shall take the power. And after him shall be
[Domitian] A ruler, of the initial sign of four,
A life-destroyer. [Nerva] Then a reverend man
Of the number fifty. Next, succeeding him
[Trajan] Who has the first mark of the initial sign
60 Three hundred, shall a Celtic mountaineer,
Into the strife of battle pressing on,
Escape not fate unseemly, but shall be
Worn weary unto death; him foreign dust,
But dust that of Nemea's flower has name,
65 Shall hide a corpse. And after him shall rule
[Hadrian] Another man, with silver helmet decked;
And unto him shall be the name of a sea;
And he shall be a man the best of all
And in all things discreet. And upon thee,
70 Thou best of all, above all, dark-haired one,
And upon thy shoots shall be all these days.
[Antoninus Pius, Lucius Verus, and Marcus Aurelius] After him three shall rule; but the third one
Shall at a late time hold the royal power.
Sibylline Oracles, Book V, 485-493: "In the last time, at the turning of the moon, There shall be raging through the world a war And carried on with cunning, and in guile. And from the limits of the earth shall come Fleeing and pondering sharp things in his mind, 490 A matricidal man who every land Shall overpower and over all things rule, And see all things more wisely than all men."
Dio Chrysostom, a contemporary of Domitian, attests to the widespread enthusiasm for a return of Nero: "…for so far as the rest of his subjects were concerned, there was nothing to prevent his continuing to be Emperor for all time, seeing that even now everybody wishes he were still alive. And the great majority do believe that he is, although in a certain sense he has died not once but often along with those who had been firmly convinced that he was still alive." (Dio Chrysostom,
On Beauty 21.10)
Philostratus writes that Apollonius of Tyana compared Nero to a beast: "Morever, in my travels, which have been wider than ever man yet accomplished, I have seen many, many wild beasts of Arabia and India; but this beast, that is commonly called a Tyrant, I know not how many heads it h as, nor if it be crooked of claw, and armed with horrible fangs. However, they say it is a civil beast, and inhabits the midst of cities; but to this extent it is more savage than the beasts of mountain fand forest, that whereas lions and panthers can sometimes by flattery be tamed and change their disposition, stroking and petting this beast does but instigate it to surpass itself in ferocity and devour at large. And of wild beasts you cannot say that they were ever known to eat their own mothers, but Nero has gorged himself on this diet." (Life, IV.38)
The reference in Revelation 13:3 to "one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed" then would make sense as a reference to the Nero redivivus myth. Moreover, "Regardless of the number, Nero is the only name that can account for both 666 and 616, which is the most compelling argument that he, and not some other person, such as Caligula or Domitian, was intended." (
link) In addition to the manuscript variants, both numbers are attested as early as Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. V.30.1).
The references to Nero thus set a
terminus a quo. The epistle attributed to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, suggests that there was no Christian community there while Paul was active: "But I have neither seen nor heard of any such thing among you, in the midst of whom the blessed Paul laboured, and who are commended in the beginning of his Epistle. For he boasts of you in all those Churches which alone then knew the Lord; but we [of Smyrna] had not yet known Him." Since Smyrna is one of the seven churches addressed by Revelation, that implies that Revelation came later. Irenaeus claims that the vision to John of Patmos was seen "almost in my own lifetime, at the end of Domitian's reign" (Adv. Haer. 5.30.3). If the reference to seven kings refers to the emperors, starting from either Julius or from Augustus, then the sixth emperor would be Nero or Vespasian (skipping the three "rebel" emperors in the Year of the Four Emperors), and the eighth would be Domitian at the latest. Similar to what we see in the Sibylline Oracles, it's possible that the text pretends to know things in the future (by implying a false setting for the text in the past), but it's unlikely that it doesn't exploit all of its knowledge of the future sequence of emperors, making it unlikely to date after Domitian, just as the fifth book of the Sibyllines likely dates to the Antonines.
It's not completely clear to me which emperors correspond to the author's enumeration; fortunately, it's also not necessary to know. Among those who identify the heads of the beast as the emperors and who place its composition after Nero, the most common enumeration is Augustus (1st), Tiberiuis (2nd), Caligula (3rd), Claudius (4th), Nero (5th - "fallen"), Vespasian (6th - "who is"), Titus (7th - a "short time"), and Domitian (8th), where Domitian is portrayed as a sort of Nero redivivius figure (putting him in a negative light).
As compelling as that enumeration is, it's somewhat unsatisfying in its identification of Vespasian as Nero (who he clearly is not and which isn't the conventional form of the Nero redivivus myth). It's also a little bit unsatisfying in seeing Vespasian's reign as the fictive setting, which doesn't have the advantage of a pre-70 setting of allowing the author to foretell the destruction of Jerusalem (mentioned in Revelation 11:2). It's notable that Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian all took the name of "Caesar" in the year 69, simultaneously. It's also interesting that the previous emperors, from Augustus to Nero, had all been adoptive sons. Titus and Domitian are the first natural sons to become emperor. Perhaps, then, the author grouped together Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian as the seventh head of the beast, corresponding to the Flavians, who shall remain for a short time (understandably, a wish of the author, if he were suffering under Domitian). The Sibylline Oracles, similarly, name the Antonines together as one entry. This would make the enumeration of the previous six run from Julius to Nero, the one "who is" in the fictive setting of Revelation. This would allow the arrival of the revived, 8th head of the beast, Nero, to take place in the future and to be part of the upheaval at the end of time, more in accordance with the overall mythology of Nero's return.
Either way, it seems likely that the book was written while Domitian were emperor, and there are interesting connections between the actions of this emperor and the text of Revelation.
Domitian was known as the "lord of the earth":
Pergamum, much more fortunate than pine-clad Ida,
though Ida allows herself to be pleased on a cloud of holy rape —
for surely she gave the high ones him {Ganymede} upon whom always
troubled Juno looks, recoiling from his hand, refusing the nectar.
But you have the gods’ favor by your beautiful nursling {Earinus}.
You sent to Italy a minister {Earinus} whom with kindly brow
Ausonian Jupiter {Domitian} and Roman Juno {Domitian’s wife} alike
view and both approve. Not without the will
of the gods is the lord of earth {Domitian} so well pleased.
{ Pergame, pinifera multum felicior Ida,
illa licet sacrae placeat sibi nube rapinae
(nempe dedit superis illum quem turbida semper
Iuno videt refugitque manum nectarque recusat),
at tu grata deis pulchroque insignis alumno
misisti Latio placida quem fronte ministrum
Iuppiter Ausonius pariter Romanaque Iuno
aspiciunt et uterque probant, nec tanta potenti
terrarum domino divum sine mente voluptas. } (Statius, Thebaid, 3.4.17-20)
Martial addressed him likewise:
If you regard, Caesar, the desire of the People and Senators
And the true joys of the Latin toga,
Return their god when their prayers demand it. Rome envies
Her own enemy, although many laurels come:
That barbarian sees the lord of the earth nearer, and
He both fears and enjoys your visage.
si desiderium, Caesar, populique patrumque
respicis et Latiae gaudia vera togae,
redde deum votis poscentibus. invidet hosti
Roma suo, veniat laurea multa licet:
terrarum dominum propius videt ille, tuoque
terretur vultu barbarus et fruitur. (7.5)
My book, as you are about to enter the laurel-wreathed palace of the lord of the world [terrarum domino], learn to speak with modesty, and in a reverent tone. Retire, unblushing Venus; this book is not for you. Come you to me, Pallas, you whom Caesar adores.
A gentle dove, eliding down through the silent air, settled in the very lap of Aretulla as she was sitting. This might have seemed the mere sport of chance, had it not rested there, although undetained, and refused to depart, even when the liberty of flight was granted it. If it is permitted to the affectionate sister to hope for better things, and if prayers can avail to move the lord of the world [dominum mundi], this bird is perhaps come to you from the dwelling of the exile in Sardinia, to announce the speedy return of your brother.
Domitian of course wasn't the first emperor to be addressed as the "lord of the earth." Ovid earlier addressed Augustus in the same way:
Parce, precor, saecli decus indelebile nostri, terrarum dominum quem sua cura facit. - Epistulae ex Ponto
Pray pardon, Oh everlastingly honour of our age, whose zeal has made him lord of the earth.
According to Suetonius, Domitian was especially keen on being addressed by the titles of "Lord" and "God" (Domitian 13):
With no less arrogance he began as follows in issuing a circular letter in the name of his procurators, "Our Lord and our God bids that this be done." And so the custom arose of henceforth addressing him in no other way even in writing or in conversation.
Pari arrogantia, cum procuratorum suorum nomine formalem dictaret epistulam, sic coepit: "Dominus et deus noster hoc fieri iubet." Vnde institutum posthac, ut ne scripto quidem ac sermone cuiusquam appellaretur aliter.
Martial and Statius show that they could alternately address him as "Lord of the Earth" and "God," not only with a fixed phrase of "Lord and God." Dio Cassius likewise writes:
For he even insisted upon being regarded as a god and took vast pride in being called "lord" and "god." These titles were used not merely in speech but also in written documents. (67.4.7)
And Dio Cassius informs us that Domitian:
received the privilege of employing twenty-four lictors (67.4.3)
This was a new honor that Domitian accorded to himself, as his predecessors had twelve lictors.
Accordingly, it seems like the reference in Revelation 4:10-11 functions as a reference to the new honors given to Domitian, which don't belong to him: "the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.'" (Rev 4:10-11)
The text implies the identification of Babylon as Rome (as both destroyed Jerusalem).
References to “the great city” are:
(1) Rev. 11:8. And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
(2) Rev. 16:19. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
(3) Rev. 17:18. And the woman [Babylon] whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
(4) Rev. 18:9-10. And the kings of the earth, who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall weep and wail over her, when they look upon the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
(5) Rev. 18:16. saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she that was arrayed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearl!
(6) Rev. 18:18. and cried out as they looked upon the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like the great city?
(7) Rev. 18:19. And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
(8) Rev. 18:21. And a strong angel took up a stone as it were a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with a mighty fall shall Babylon, the great city, be cast down, and shall be found no more at all.
All the other references are easily understood as Babylon, a cipher for Rome, but the first one gives us trouble. Here is the surrounding passage (ASV):
“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed. These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that beheld them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
As with the phrase “the great city,” that other phrase “the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations” (which in our passage refers to people that dwell on earth and would rejoice over the death of the witnesses), when read with cognate expressions elsewhere in Revelation, favors reading the reference as Rome. Here is a later reference to the beast:
“and it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him” (Rev. 13:7-8)
Here also is a reference to Babylon (Rome):
“And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot [Babylon] sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” (Rev. 17:15)
This kind of phrase is also found in several references to heaven, where the New Jerusalem is. Here you see a parallel being developed, between Babylon (Rome) where people who dwell on earth worship the beast and New Jerusalem where people who are in heaven worship the Lord of lords. All “the peoples and multitude and nations and tongues” are found in both the earthly Rome and in the heavenly New Jerusalem, according to their allegiances.
That Jerusalem was figuratively called Sodom in the scriptures is true, but that it was called Egypt isn’t quite as clear (despite the reference to receiving plagues like those delivered unto Egypt). The presence of Egypt alerts us to different possibilities behind this figurative reference. Egypt held Israel in captivity, just as Babylon did. Israel, obviously, could not hold itself in captivity. The great city elsewhere identified as Babylon is here figuratively identified as Egypt and Sodom. We can easily suppose that the third cipher Sodom, a place that did not hold Israel captive, may just refer to the great wickedness of Rome (Babylon), which is frequently attested in the text of Revelation itself.
There is no polemic elsewhere against Jerusalem, the name of the heavenly and holy city, which is one more reason for seeing Rome here.
One really decisive piece of evidence, moreover, is that the “holy city” of Jerusalem on earth had been already destroyed and trampled under foot, something the author understood in his historical situation and explicitly mentions as belonging to a prior event in this passage (Revelation 11:2). It hardly merits a description later in the same passage, presumably still regarding the city in which the two witnesses were lying dead in the street, that “the tenth part of the city fell” after the entire holy city had been sacked and trampled under foot (unless, of course, we read “the great city” in this passage as being distinct from “the holy city” Jerusalem).
To all that has been said, we can add the evidence adduced above that the emperor was regarded as the "lord of the earth," mentioned in Revelation 11:4 (a contrast to the "God of heaven" in Revelation 11:13). It is common knowledge that the emperor ruled from Rome, so the "two witnesses," who "stand before the Lord of the earth" (Revelation 11:4) and who are protected by breathing fire, can be determined to be testifying in the heart of the unbelievers' empire, in the city of Rome.
The evidence thus points to the holy city being Jerusalem and to the great city being Rome, including this reference in Revelation 11:8.