vatican, rome, jerusaleum, christians, egyptians, cathars, jews, buddhists, muslims, etc bla bla bla, were not around, alive, invented until recent times, my guess is the mark of the beast is made up of recent and just another misinterpretation of the true old teachings/ beliefs.

There has been a period of time say 3-4000 years where modern man has grasped at new things in order to rule others or guide others under a set of guidlines / rules/ laws / etc, so things have got messy, complicated, distorted etc, go back further to the source of them all ?!
before things were written inbooks and then rewitten and interpreted to other languages and to work in changing environments, and to suit those that felt the need or desire to be seen to be better or more godlike than others, befor the ego of modern man came into the picture.