The Book of Daniel provides apocalyptic prophecies about the rise and fall of four secular kingdoms or empires (cf. Dan 2, 7, 8 and 11), followed by a fifth (and eternal) kingdom.
These 'kingdoms' are:
(1) Neo-Babylonia;
(2) Medo-Persia;
(3) Greece of Alexander the great;
(4) the 'rival diadochoi' Egypt and Syria (with Antiochus IV as the "little horn" mentioned in Dan 7 and Dan 8)
...followed by (5) God's kingdom (of the Most High, cf. Dan 7:27).
After the 'Jewish War' (66-70 CE) and the fall of Jerusalem, the erroneous assumption arose that the four empires should be identified with (1) Neo-Babylonia; (2) Medo-Persia; (3) Greece (together with the 'diadochoi'); and (4) the Roman Empire (cf. 4 Ezra). This interpretation, however, is in conflict with both the internal evidence from the Book of Daniel and the rest of the Bible.
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