Revelation 18 continues narrating the destruction of the Roman Empire due to its own political corruption, economic injustice, moral decadence, and idolatrous values. In the second of two complex metaphors on Roman power, the once-great city of Babylon is in complete ruin. The readers are not told exactly how the city falls, only that it does (“She fell! Babylon the Great fell!” [18:2, author’s translation]; cf. 14:8; Isa. 21:9), and what follows is a detailed description of the grisly aftermath of Rome’s collapse.

The scene opens with the words of an unidentified angel (18:1; cf. Ezek. 43:1–3) whose speech against Rome resembles the taunt songs of Isaiah 23–24, Jeremiah 50–51, and Ezekiel 26–28 against the historic cities of Babylon and Tyre. The angel describes Rome as a completely des…