Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. . . . The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.” And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. Rev. 17:1–6.
So, again, Babylon, in [the writings of] our own John, is a figure of the city Rome. For she is equally great and proud of her sway. Tertullian (c. 197, W), 3.162.
That powerful state that presides over the seven mountains and very many waters has merited from the Lord the designation of a prostitute. Tertullian (c. 198, W), 4.24.
By a similar usage, in the writings of our John, Babylon is a figure of the city of Rome. For Rome is like Babylon in being great and proud in royal power and in warring against the saints of God. Tertullian (c. 207, W), 3.333.
We are called away from even dwelling in that Babylon of John’s Revelation. How much more so its pomp! Tertullian (c. 212, W), 3.101.
Tell me, blessed John—apostle and disciple of the Lord—what did you see and hear concerning Babylon? Arise and speak! For it [i.e., Rome] sent you into banishment. Hippolytus (c. 200, W), 5.211.
. . . the great overthrow of Babylon, that is, the Roman state. Victorinus (c. 280, W), 7.352.