best not to play guessing games. While it’s possible that John’s readers would have been able to pore over recent history to figure out who’s who as a Christian threat or even to determine a rough timeline as to when Rome’s terrible reign would end, it’s a fruitless agenda on our end. The big picture should suffice. John’s use of the number seven proves as much. The fact that there are seven heads/rulers is simply to show that the rule and reign of these rulers will be lengthy, significant, complete