The inclination is to equate the term “great city” with the greatest city of John’s day, which was Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, which indeed exercised “dominion over the kings of the [Roman] world.” That equation is incorrect, however, because the name on her forehead is “Babylon the great” (Revelation 17:5). That name revealed that she had adopted for herself the attitude of self-sufficiency and no-need-for-God that typified Old Testament Babylon (as voiced by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:30), and as illustrated by her old-time namesake Babel. That very same attitude of self-sufficiency was the calling card of her prostitution as she sought to entice people everywhere to commit spiritual adultery. Rome was certainly one city in John’s day guilty of this conduct, but not the only one. In fact, so many cities and states and civilizations throughout history (including our day) are guilty of precisely this transgression, and so are Babylons. Their kings and rulers and governors both commit prostitution with their cities/states as well as contribute to enticing their peoples to seek their well being in created things instead of God. So we may just as correctly think of modern cities of our day.
18 And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”