The legs of iron and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay, corresponding to the fourth beast in 7:7 and 8, signify the Roman Empire with its last ten kings (2:40-43).
In the Bible, according to the human image in Daniel 2, there are only four empires. In the sight of God, therefore, all of human government throughout human history is composed of four empires: the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Macedonian-Grecian Empire, and the Roman Empire. According to the human point of view, the Grecian Empire ended with the death of Alexander the Great. However, according to God's viewpoint, this empire continued with Alexander's successors—his four generals who divided the empire into four sections—and it lasted until the beginning of the Roman Empire. Apparently the Roman Empire has also been terminated. Actually the Roman Empire continues to exist. According to the books of Daniel and Revelation, the Roman Empire will have as its last Caesar the Antichrist, with the ten kings signified by the ten toes of the great image. The Roman Empire, which began approximately thirty years before the birth of Christ, will last until the very end of the three and a half years of the great tribulation. The aggregate of human empires that began with Nimrod at Babel will consummate with the last Caesar of the Roman Empire with his ten kings. Thus, according to the Bible, we are still in the Roman Empire today.
The culture of the world is an accumulation of culture from the time of Nimrod until the present. What began with Nimrod will conclude with Antichrist. The Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Macedonian-Grecian Empires have vanished, but their culture remains. The Medo-Persian Empire adopted aspects of Babylonian culture, and the Macedonian-Grecian Empire adopted aspects of Medo-Persian culture. In the same principle, the Roman Empire adopted many elements of Greek culture and of the cultures that preceded it. Today we are still under the influence of Roman culture, especially in the matters of law, politics, and government. In this sense, the Roman Empire continues to exist, and we are still in this empire.
Daniel 2:34-35, 44-45 reveals the destiny of the great human image.