Was The Roman Empire The Fourth World Empire

It is mainstream church doctrine that the Roman Empire was the fourth empire from Daniels interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

Your Majesty, in your vision you saw in front of you a huge and powerful statue of a man, shining brilliantly, frightening and awesome. The head of the statue was made of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs were of bronze, its legs were of iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and clay. But as you watched, a rock was cut out of a mountain by supernatural means. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. The whole statue collapsed into a heap of iron, clay, bronze, silver and gold. The pieces were crushed as small as chaff on a threshing floor, and the wind blew them all away without trace. But the rock that knocked the statue down grew into a huge mountain which covered the whole earth. Daniel 3:31-35.

According to conventional wisdom, the Babylon Empire was the first Empire, the Mede and Persian Empire was the second, the Greek Empire was the third, and the Roman Empire was the fourth.

This is partly understandable from historic events. Early Christians believed that Jesus' return was imminent, and that they were living in the last days. They therefore naturally assumed that Rome was the last Empire. However, with the benefit of hindsight we can see that their assumption was incorrect.

Some centuries after Jesus death, the Roman empire split into two Empires; the eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. This split was unknown by the early Christian church, but it means that Rome best matches the third empire (the belly and the two thighs).

It is commonly assumed that Greece was the third empire, partly because the rise of Alexander the Great and his Greek Empire is described very accurately in Daniel chapter 11. However, at the time of Alexanders conquest through Asia, Rome was already a republic, and the Carthaginian Empire still controlled most of the Mediterranean. Carthage and Greece had been at war for some centuries at that point. So Alexanders Empire, although it was large, did not control the civilised world.. It was the Romans who eventually conquered the Carthaginians and overran their empire.

It is also often assumed that Greece was the third empire because of the description of the third beast in Daniel 7.

Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.

The first beast was like a ion with eagles wings. As I watched its wings were pulled off, and it was left standing on the ground like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.


Then I saw a second beast, and it looked like a bear. It was rearing up on one side, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And I heard a voice saying, "Get up! Devour many people!"

Then the third of these strange beasts appeared, and it looked like a leopard, It had four wings like birds wings on its back, and it had four heads. Great authority was given to this beast.

Then in my vision that night I saw a fourth beast, terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth, and trampled what was left beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts, and it had ten horns. As I was looking at the horns, suddenly another small horn appeared among them. Three of the first horns were wrenched out, roots and all, to make room for it. The little horn had eyes that were like human eyes, and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly. Daniel 7;3-8

This second vision is not necessarily about the same four empires as Nebuchadnezzar's vision. However, the third beast, the leopard is often likened to Alexander the Great , because of his lightening victories in Asia. It could also apply to Rome. One of the reasons for Romes success in managing its empire, was its network of roads. These roads were military roads, built to allow the Roman legions to rapidly travel to different parts of the Empire. Rome also had a substantial Navy, with ships used to transport soldiers around the empire. A significant feature of the Roman Empire was its ability to very rapidly deploy its armies around its empire. Rome would therefore also fit the picture of a leopard because of its speed.

So if Rome was the third empire, who is number four? What are we looking for? A major world power, which arises as the two legs. In other words, the fourth empire will arise or start off in two distinct geographical locations. It will then further develop and split into ten distinct regions or kingdoms. That certainly doesn't fit Rome.

As we near the end of the age, the only world power able to match those requirements is the US. When the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, it created the stub of the second leg of its world empire. Since then Iraq has become part of that stub. We can expect the US to stay in Afghanistan and Iraq, despite the rhetoric, and to steadily increase the areas in the middle east which are under its control.

A nuclear armed, aggressive, and expansionist Iran will probably provide the next excuse for military action, and expansion of the empire. It is likely that a rebuilt Babylon will become the headquarters of the pan-arab middle east leg of the empire. Sadam Hussein had already started the rebuilding of Babylon. It is likely that the US will continue that task, and use Babylon as its Middle East Capital.

Yes the US is in financial turmoil. Yes the US is broke. Yes the US has the most powerful military on the planet, with military bases all around the globe. The next step is for the US to monetize its assets. Historically, war and conquest has been about money. We conquer you, you pay us taxes. Everybody is happy with that arrangement except you (and you don't count). So expect the US to start looking at military action as a way to raise revenue. A simple way to get the US out of hock.

Expect the middle east leg to keep growing, and expect that US military power around the world will keep increasing. At some time in the near future the US military posture will change to become much more aggressive. But by then it will be too late for any other nation(s) to do anything about it.


First Posted Tuesday, 29th June, 2010.