I thought that was Roman Catholicism.
I dont believe that.
Some people symbolicly say the seven hills are symbolic of Rome..BUT. Please read..seven hills are seven kingdoms, five have fallen, one is, and one is to come. One must remember that this was in Johns time so. The five that have fallen are, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, The Medo-Persian, and the Greek. The one that is, is Rome, and there is the one that is to come.
The Harlot is a religion. John was taken in spirit to the DESERT. She was titled as; Mystery, Babylon the Great. The mother of Prostitutes and of the abominations of the Earth. She sits on many waters (often the symbol of water and sea means peoples in the scripture).
Now for the Beast. It reads that "The beast who ONCE WAS, and now IS NOT, is an eighth king. He BELONGS to the seven and is going to his destruction.
So the Beast, will come from one of those five former kingdoms (since in Johns time he had already been-Read ONCE WAS and now is NOT above). I believe he will be a Greek or of Greek heritage and will gain his power in the Asyrian-Persian-Babylon area. Why? Because Alexander the Great was one of the most destructive and terrible conquerers in history. It also describes the beast as like a leoperd, lion and bear. Symbols of which of those kingdoms.
Sorry to bore you but...