One form of government had yet to come and would remain for a short while, the Dukedom, also known as the Exarchate of Ravenna. Historians say that this was the seventh and final form of government of Pagan Rome, The Exarchate fell in 751 AD.

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Edited 11 December 2021

The large red dragon, with seven crowns on its seven heads from Revelation 12:3 (and Revelation 13:1 and Revelation 17:3), symbolizes (Pagan) Roman Empire. The banner of the cavalry of the Roman army was a red dragon (see footnotes). Jesus referred to this banner as the abomination of desolation in Matthew 24:15.

This “red dragon” conquered Palestine from the remains of the Greek Empire. Read Daniel 8:9 and 10: This Roman Empire magnified itself against the Holy Land and abolished part of the government’s structure of Judah: The kings (legislative and executive state power) were deposed of (Rev. 12:4).

History corroborates with this explanation without a flaw: a third part of the stars were swept away by the tail of that heathen power. It is not written that 1/3 part of the army of Satan. Since the scene in the first 6 verses is about the attack on the Jewel Land, it must be about a third part of the Jewish leadership! Revelation gives us NO clue as to how many angels followed Satan in his rebellion. EGW says, initially more than half, and later on, she says that some of those deceived angels chose sides with Jesus again. There are places where she speaks about 1/3 of the angels following Satan, but the Bible does not sustain that understanding. Verse 4 could have a dual application, but from history we know for sure that Revelation 12:1-6 depicts a different war than in the rest of the chapter (12).

So, Rome established its own rulers over Judea – governors – who were Jews or not. This is also the meaning of the verses in Daniel 8:9,10 – Rome fought against the children of God (heirs of heaven), conquered them, and cast some of the stars (it’s the leaders) to the earth (destroyed them).

Rome left the Priest class (headed by the high priest) and the religious court – the Sanhedrin – left in place. The powers of the Sanhedrin were restricted: the Jewish court was not allowed to pronounce death penalties. That is why they had to go to Pilate – the emperor’s representative, for the death penalty of Jesus. The execution was therefore also done in a Roman way, through crucifixion. The Jewish form of capital punishment was by stoning.

This red dragon is different from the one described in Rev. 12:7-9. There it is described as ‘the dragon’ and Jesus himself gives the explanation – it is the snake, devil and Satan.

In Rev. 13 a “sea beast” is described and a number of details becomes visible that closely resemble the red dragon in Revelation. 12:3,4 and the little horn in Daniel 8:9,10 and also the scarlet beast in Rev.17. There the woman is the (false) church, who sits on / in Rome.

On the one hand, the heads are the 7 mountains on which the woman sits (Rev. 17:9). The 7 mountains are also called ‘big city’. The city of Rome is known for being built on 7 hills or mountains. Vatican City – a fortified city state within Rome, is built on an eighth hill – Vaticanus Mons, on the right bank of the Tiber river.

On the other hand, the 7 heads (heads of state) describe the 7 forms of government (“heads” of the empire) that the Roman Empire has known. In Rev. 17 it is described that in John’s time there were already five forms of government in the past.

These five belonged to the past. History testifies that from its birth on April 21, 753 BC, Pagan Rome had the following types of government, the periods of

the Kings;
the Consuls;
The Decimveri (ten-manship);
the Dictators;
the Triumvirate (three man-ship or Tribune);
One existed (still): John lived in the time of the Emperors;
One form of government had yet to come and would remain for a short while the Dukedom, also known as the Exarchate of Ravenna. Historians say that this was the seventh and final form of government of Pagan Rome, that existed until 751 AD;
And the 7th would for a while exist at the same time as the 8th (“the 8th is of the 7th”): the Popedom
For a proper understanding of the end-time prophecy, it is important to recognize that the main characteristics of the Roman Empire persist until the end of this world – the iron of the legs we find back to the feet and toes of the statue of Daniel 2.
The pope is “king” of the Vatican Empire, whose seat is in Rome. The last emperor of the Roman Empire (Emperor Justinian I, who lived in Constantinople (Turkey) – capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire) handed over its religious power and authority to the then Bishop of Rome in 538 AD. Thus, the leader of the Christian Church, got his territory, in what was left over of the city of Rome.
It is important to see that in 538 AD the Bishop of Rome got handed-over the religious prerogatives only from Justinian (title Pontifex Maximus: Justinian was high priest of the Sun god; the pope crowns himself as high priest of Christ) and the keys of the city of Rome, but that political power only followed after the decline of the Dukedom of Ravenna in 751 AD. Shortly after that, pope Stephan II got his political power from Pepin, king of France.

Of the West Roman Empire, only the city of Rome was left to exist. Other parts of the western empire had fallen apart, which was symbolized by the 10 crowns, what later became 10 horns without crowns (Revelation 17:3), i.e. they were no longer kingdoms but independent states.
In Daniel, the total empire of the Western Roman Empire is represented by 10 toes. We know that Europe consists of more than 10 countries now, but we also understand that borders have shifted over the centuries, through alliances, through marriages and alliances. It is the same area though that once belonged to the Roman Empire.

The Eastern Roman Empire has had little meaning in church history. That part of the Pagan Roman Empire was later taken by the Turks (Islam). There arose in Istanbul a counter power that was an almost exact copy of the power in Rome. And that anti-religion adopted Muhammed as it’s high priest and Friday as its day of worship.

This means that the red dragon in Revelation 12 was still in existence when the Popedom established its political power in Rome. That’s why the leopard sea beast of Revelation 13:1 is pictured with 7 heads and ten horns and ten crowns. Papal Rome was still part of the old pagan Rome but in a new religious form – a pseudo Sun god-Christian religion. The first popes acknowledged the connection to Pagan Rome by picturing a dragon in their seal (as the Netherlands has the lion, and Germany and USA the eagle).

The fact is, that the Turks (led by Atatürk) at some point also threatened to take over the western part, when Turkey dominated the political scene in Europe. This led Uriah Smith to draw the (wrong) conclusion at the beginning of the 20th century that Turkey would be the “sea beast” of Revelation 13.

John sees that one of the 7 heads (hills, forms of government) is fatally wounded. This is corroborated by history: in 1798 the pope was stripped by France of his ecclesiastical and political power. For about 2 years, the Roman church did not exist as a kingdom – Napoleon proclaimed Rome, including the Vatican City, to be a republic. The then pope – Pius VI – was imprisoned and died in exile in Ravenna. Two years later, Napoleon allows a new pope to be elected – Pius VII. However, he is completely stripped of his original authority and power.

On July 15, 1801, the Pope and the French government representatives agreed on a treaty – Le Concordat. This treaty entered into force on April 18, 1802. It meant, among other things, that the bishops were appointed by the French head of state (first one was Napoleon) and not by the pope, the pope could only confirm their appointment; the bishops had to swear an oath of allegiance to the state; they were allowed to appoint pastors, but only if the candidates had been approved by the state; the church renounced all its goods. The clergy were paid by the state. Sunday was designated as a worship day. There was then a 7-day week in addition to the revolutionary 10-day week. In short: The Catholic Church became the French state church. At the time, France was in charge in most of Europe.

Therefore, at religious and political level, this pope had nothing to say in Europe. He was only allowed to be king over his church kingdom in Vatican City, but no longer held religious rule over the kings of Europe (the 10 states). But this “wound” slowly recovered, until, in 1929, Mussolini returned to the Pope his Vatican City (Lateran Treaty) and thus restored his political power – the “deadly wound” was healed. The pope was again king in Rome. With this, the 7th “form of government” became at the same time the 8th (Rev. 17:10) and Rome gradually recovered to the global political-religious power it is today. Vatican is an official member of the UN and special adviser to the UN Security Council. There is no war contemplated, of the pope is counseled. From 2015, the world is united around the Paris Climate Agreement, an initiative of the Pope, based on his encyclic Laudato Sií (June 2015); and most recently (October 2020) the world united socially around his last encyclic Fratelli Tutti.

If we want to understand the prophecies of Daniel 8, Revelation 12, 13 and 17, then it is significant to recognize that the Roman Catholic Church is, prophetically speaking, the extension of the (pagan) Roman Empire. The RCC originated from Rome and is part of Rome, is a continuation of Rome – the red dragon. Scarlet is the main color of the RCC – the color of the cardinals and the pope.

The RCC, which is based in Rome, is “the great city” from which it rules the kings of the earth. Just as we say “Washington” when we mean the US government, or “The Hague” when we mean the government of the Netherlands.

This is now, finally, the correct explanation of the 7 heads and the 8th. This is the only correct explanation of the meaning of the red dragon, the leopard sea beast and the crimson red beast. I would like to read your opinion in the comments.

footnotes
Here are some references to the red dragon as the standard of the Roman Cavalry:

The Red Dragon Of Wales – Ancient Symbol Dating Back To Roman Times – Ancient Pages
Draco (military standard) – Wikipedia

Roman Standard – World History Encyclopedia

Dacian Draco – Wikipedia

Legion XXIV – Imperial Standards, scroll down
History of the Toman Legionary: 1st century BC – 3rd centrury AD, Scroll down to figure under paragraph: The Founding of the Comitatus