**The Church fathers were always in agreement that Babylon was code for Rome.**
And so was John in the writing of Revelation. That's why he refers to Babylon.
Babylon=Rome
Beast= Roman ruler of the day -- was it Diocletian? (spelling? Or someone else?
There are other code parallels that the persecuted Christians understood.
One is the woman clothes by the sun -- many Catholics think of Mary.
But primarily, as I understand it, the woman represented Israel.
I forget what the harlotry in the warnings to some of the cities was a parallel to, but I am thinking, without getting my Bible study book out in the car, that it was idolatry.
See 1467.
Correction here. Nero was one of those parallels -- and the persecuted Christians knew that John was referring to him without John even using his name in Revelation.
It was a fascinating Bible study class.