Daniel named the empires of Babylon, the Medes and the Persians and of Alexander the Great in his prophecies. After the decline and fall of the Greek city-states, the next empire to arise was that of Rome, which came into power in the centuries preceding the coming of Christ. This fourth empire was not named by Daniel but was described as “terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts, and it had ten horns” (Daniel 7:7). The armies of Rome crushed all opposition and extended the iron control of the Caesars over all of southern Europe, western Asia, and North Africa. But Daniel also observed that in the last stage of the empire the iron would be mixed with baked clay, implying that the fourth kingdom would be vulnerable to sudden destruction, just as pottery can easily be shattered (Daniel 2:41-45). According to Daniel’s prophecy, this fourth empire of the Caesars, although seemingly destroyed, is not actually dead and gone. A final form of the last empire is destined to emerge when ten leaders from nations originally in the Roman Empire emerge from a new union of Europe and Mediterranean nations (Daniel 7:7). Daniel’s vision of this stage of the Roman Empire involves a beast, symbolically representing the Roman Empire, with the ten horns on the beast representing ten kings yet to rise on the stage of world history. The interpretation of the prophecy was directly given to Daniel, as recorded in Daniel 7:23
We see in Revelation chapter 13, which describes a beast coming from the sea having ten horns and seven heads (Revelation 13:1). This depiction connects it to the fourth beast of Daniel 7, which also has ten horns. Revelation describes this government as “blasphemous” and tyrannical, requiring absolute submission in financial, spiritual, and political matters. The global power this nation wields is given to it by Satan. In this context, the symbols are more easily interpreted as references to a particular ruler and a particular political empire yet to come, rather than some figure of prior history. This does point to the Revived Romans Empire.