Author: Eduardo Freire Canosa
The head of gold: King Nebuchadnezzar, the second ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Its chest and arms of silver: Nebuchadnezzar's successors, a kingdom in decline torn by internal power struggles. The arms are the two successors mentioned in the Bible, Evil-Merodach (2 Kings:27-30, Jeremiah 52:31-34) and King Belshazzar (Daniel 5).
Its belly and thighs of bronze: The Achaemenid Empire, commonly referred to as the Persian empire. It ruled "over the whole earth," i.e. the known world. The belly and thighs are the union of the Medes and the Persians (Daniel 5:28, 6:8).
Its legs of iron: The two principal heirs to the territory conquered by Alexander the Great: the king of the North (Daniel 11:6-9) and the king of the South (Daniel 11:5-6). The "king of the North" is a Seleucid ruler. The "king of the South" is a Ptolemaic monarch.
The toes partly iron and partly clay: The ten toes are the Decapolis. The Decapolis is mentioned on Matthew 4:25, Mark 5:20, 8:31.
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