<p>17:10 <i>And they are seven kings. The five are fallen, the one is, the other is yet to come; and when he comes, he must continue a little while</i>- The seven mountains refer to seven leaders within the beast system, headquartered in Jerusalem, the city of seven hills. They may refer to a sequence of seven kings, or to a group of seven rulers gathered within Jerusalem. But they are photographed, as it were, at the point of the sixth king. The one yet to come provides the connection with how the beast was, is not, and yet is to come. The deadly wounded head will revive in the form of a seventh head. He continues &quot;a little while&quot;, the same Greek used in 12:12 for how the dethroned devil / dragon furiously persecutes God's people, knowing that he has but &quot;a little while&quot;. His dethronement would correlate with the head receiving a deadly wound in 13:12, the beast 'not being' due to Divine judgment, and then reviving. The judgment and yet revival of Babylon is for a reason; and I suggest that the God who in judgment always remembers mercy does it this way because He seeks even Babylon's repentance. And that is why in the midst of the prophecies of Babylon's judgment, we read that God &quot;would have healed Babylon&quot;, of her &quot;deadly wound&quot;, but she would not; she refuses the ointment offered (Jer. 51:8,9).</p><p>A pre-AD70 date for Revelation has been well argued by J.A.T. Robinson, H.A. Whittaker and Paul Wyns. John would've been pretty old if it was indeed given in AD96 as claimed by some. The many connections between Revelation and the Olivet prophecy and 2 Peter 3 all suggest that it too is a prophecy of AD70. The historical connections are too great to ignore, and seem of little value if the book is simply alluding at a later date to what happened in AD70. Rev. 17:10 speaks of the leadership of the Roman empire, speaking of &ldquo;five that are fallen&rdquo;- clearly referring to: <br />1. Julius Caesar the first Roman Emperor (44 BC-26 BC).<br />2. Augustus (27 BC &ndash; AD 14).<br />3. Tiberius (AD 14 &ndash; 37).<br />4. Gaius (AD 37 &ndash; 41).<br />5. Claudius (AD 41 &ndash; 51)<br />The leader who &quot;is&quot; would therefore refer to Nero (AD54-68), and the context of persecution would then be that of his reign. The sixth, Nero, was alive when John was given the Revelation; and the seventh was Galba who reigned only 7 months (June 68 - Jan 69). This order of the Caesars is that taken from standard works: Suetonius (<i>Lives of the Twelve Caesars</i>); Dio Cassius (<i>Roman History</i> 5); Josephus (<i>Antiquities</i> 19.1.11 cp. 18.2.2; 18.6.10). The beast's war with the saints for 42 months (13:5-7) would then refer to the Neronian persecution. Note how 13:12,14 interchanges the head with the whole beast. Mosheim confirms this: &quot;The dreadful persecution which took place by order of this tyrant, commenced at Rome about the middle of November in the year of our Lord 64&hellip; this dreadful persecution ceased but with the death of Nero&hellip; in the year 68 June, when he put an end to his own life&quot; L. von Mosheim, <i>Historical Commentaries</i> vol. 1, tr. Robert Vidal (NY: Converse, 1854) pp 138,139. In the same way as the first century believers could not have accurately predicted how all this would come about, but would have been wonderfully encouraged as they saw it all happening, and perceived then the interpretation- so we will see the Revelation come true, rather than be able to predict its precise fulfilment, in our final &quot;last days&quot;.</p><p>The problem with the application to Roman Caesars is that the five kings &quot;fall&quot;, the same word soon to be used about the fall of Babylon (18:2). The word doesn't mean to die, but to fall from power to destruction. The idea is that five kings will be killed, either together or in quick succession. Any application to the deaths of a succession of Roman Caesars is only a very shadowy fulfilment of the clearer, fuller reality which will be seen in the last days.</p>