two-horned beast.

The imperial heads of Rome date from the battle of Actium, B. C. 31; but
the Eastern empire was not commenced, till A. D. 324, when Constantine
removed the seat of empire from Rome to Constantinople. Rome was, previous
to that removal, the undisputed queen of nations, and Constantine was
without a rival. Why he should abandon Rome, the citadel and throne of the
Caesars, for an obscure corner of Thrace, has never been satisfactorily
explained. Says Dr. Croly: "The change of government to Constantinople
still perplexes the historian. It was an act in direct repugnance to the
whole course of the ancient prejudices."

The indifference with which Constantine viewed the country of the Caesars,
was regarded by Gibbon as the cause of removal.

He transferred the customs and forms of the Roman government, and there
exercised all the powers of the empire,--the Italians still obeying the
edicts which he condescended to address from Constantinople to the Senate
and people of Rome. The western division continued dependent on the
eastern head, till the death of Theodosius, A. D. 395. His two sons,
Arcadius and Honorius, "were saluted by the unanimous consent of mankind,
as the lawful emperors of the East, and of the West,"--the European
boundary being "not very different from that which separates the Germans
from the Turks."--Gibbon, v. 2, p. 199. Gibbon calls this "the final and
permanent division of the Roman empire." But its existence as a beast more
properly dates from the removal of Constantine.

Its two horns like a lamb, must symbolize two divisions of the kingdom.
These may be contemporary, like those symbolized by the ten horns (17:12),
or successive, like the two horns of the ram, Dan. 8:3, 20. From the
history of the Eastern empire, the latter is the more probable; and its
historical resemblance to the government symbolized by the ram, may be the
reason of the comparison to "horns like a lamb." As Persia was a
government outside of Media, and succeeded to its sovereignty, so did the
kingdom of the Turks originate outside of the Eastern empire, and at
length come in, occupy its territory, and succeed to its sovereignty, A.
D. 1253. With this view, the horns would symbolize the kings of Eastern
Rome and of Turkey. See pp. 99-104.

Its dragon-like speech shows it to be a blasphemous, persecuting power,
like that which persecuted the woman, 12:17. Though the Greek empire
claimed to be Christian, a succ