| Beast's Status | Head | Status of Head | Leading World Power | Official Religion | Alternate Symbol |
| "was" | 1 | "fallen" | Babel-Assyria | Paganism | "Dragon" |
| 2 | "fallen" | Egypt | Paganism | ||
| 3 | "fallen" | Neo-Babylonia | Paganism | ||
| 4 | "fallen" | Medo-Persia | Paganism | ||
| 5 | "fallen" | Grecia | Paganism | ||
| 6 | "is" | Rome and its Divisions | Paganism | ||
| Catholicism | "Beast" | ||||
| "is not" | |||||
| "shall ascend" | 7 | "not yet come" | Post-Constitutional America | Evangelicalism | "False Prophet" |
In this lineup, we begin with the first kingdom to establish the "mystery" apostasy as its religion, Nimrod's Babel-Assyria described in Genesis 10:8-12. It was Nimrod's idolatry that influenced all subsequent civilizations, so it makes a good original head for this heaven-defying beast.
Notice that imperial and medieval Rome are considered here as a single kingdom. In the prophecies of Daniel, Rome experiences a radical change with the invasion of the barbarians, yet in a sense it continues down to the time of the end. With this view, the time during which the sixth head "is" would include both John's day and the papal period.
Each of the heads represents a political power as distinguished from the woman on the beast who represents the controlling religious power.