Revelation 17:18

And the woman whom thou sawest is the great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The great city ... This is Mystery Babylon, not literal Babylon, but still actually Rome. How so? The city of Rome is the capital of the pagan empire, and of the harlot-beast that succeeded her as the seventh head, the headquarters of her entire operation. She is still careful to preserve the name "Roman" in every particular of her worldwide operations. The view that makes this the literal city of Rome falls woefully short, requiring that the scope of the prophecy cannot extend beyond literal Rome's rule as a world empire, an epoch that ended in 476 A.D. It also requires that the radical alteration of the symbol "Babylon" through changing it to "Mystery Babylon" must be ignored. Therefore, we cannot accept the view that only the literal city of Rome is meant.

Which reigneth over the kings of the earth ... This was literally true in John's day; but it is equally true historically, today, and ever since the words ceased to have any application at all to the literal city.

This verse takes us right up to the judgment day; but another view of final events will be given in Revelation 18, culminating in the final judgment recorded at the end of that chapter.