The statement of verse 8 seems, then, undoubtedly to refer to the Empire; it did exist, it ceased to be, and it will reappear. The assertion that it "is not" must not be taken to mean that the beast had ceased to exist in John's time. The present tense is to be regarded as prophetic. The verb "to be" often has the force of continuance of existence. The whole statement implies a past existence, a discontinuance of that existence, a future reappearance. In the vision recorded in the thirteenth chapter, John saw one of the heads of the beast "as though it had been smitten unto death." If, as seems probable, this head is imperialism, then the overthrow of imperial Rome is likewise indicated in that passage. In the light, then, of the words: "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not," we may now consider how the Roman Empire was overthrown. Disintegration of the Western Half. We have seen that, at the accession of the Emperor Valentinian I. in A.D. 364, the Empire was divided into two parts. The succeeding century witnessed the disintegration of the western half. The cause was primarily from within. Augustus, the first Emperor, had instituted a policy of settling colonies of "barbarians" from northern Europe within the frontiers of the Empire. Later Emperors adopted the policy more generally. The significance of this lies in the fact that by the barbarians who had already been thus established in the Empire, the attacks were commenced which resulted in the dismemberment of its western provinces. Alaric and the Goths. At the close of the fourth century hordes of Gothic tribes from north-eastern and eastern Germany set out, under Alaric their chief, in quest of new lands. Settlements of these very Goths had already been established south of the Danube by the Imperial Government as allies of the Romans. After an excursion into Italy, in which they were temporarily checked, they poured, in 406, into defenceless Gaul. From thence Alaric returned to invade Italy, and three times in three years besieged Rome (408-410), eventually sacking the city. After his death, in 410, the Goths retired from Italy, entered Gaul, and permanently occupied the southern part of that country and a large part of Spain, where they were known as =Visigoths= (_i.e._, Western Goths).