Much cinnamon and frankincense lost in the fall of Babylon - In Revelations 18:11-13, written about AD 90, the prophet John symbolically predicted the coming downfall of sinful Rome. To avoid persecution by the emperor Domitian, he substituted the name of ancient Babylon for that of Rome, as he obscurely described how the merchants of the earth would mourn over their losses of merchandise, including cinnamon and frankincense, upon the destruction of the city.