2. Like a leopard . . . a bear . . . a lion--13:2. In moral and political character the emperor was featured as a composite monster after the likenesses of the ferocious beasts of prey, the leopard, the bear and the lion. The ten crowns, or diadems, on the ten horns symbolized the royalty and rank that belonged to the ten kings of the tributary kingdoms, and the great universal power of the ten-kingdom empire. In addition to the ten-crowned horns, upon the heads of the beast the name of blasphemy was inscribed. This is a fitting description of Nero Caesar, in whom “ the Neronic anti-Christ was incarnated,” who assumed divine names and prerogatives, and commanded the worship of the emperor. 3. The dragon gave him great power, and his seat and his authority--13:2. The world power of the Roman empire could not have been more accurately described. The visions are not symbolic of the city of Rome. There is no allusion to “ the eternal city.” The visions of Revelation were not a history of Rome, but within their symbols were included the graphic representations of the emperor and the empire. The Roman See--in Latin, a seat of power and authority-- was derived from the dragon, who gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. The dragon, therefore, was personified in the emperor of the Roman empire. Later, in verse 11, the second beast appeared on the land, as a satellite of the first beast, to execute his orders. The dragon gave the seat and the power and the authority to the first beast. The second beast of the land was said, in verse 4, to have worshipped the beast of the sea, The land beast represented the Palestinian persecutors, which were subordinate to the Roman emperor, having no authority, except as derived from him. The distinction between land and sea, in these designations of the two beasts, is simply that the land in the vision stood for Palestine, and the sea for Rome, separated from Palestine by the sea, and symbolized as universal in sway.