Do The Legs of Iron Represent
the East-West Division of Rome?
by Rodrigo Silva – 03/21/2009
www.BeastFromTheEast.org
One of the most accepted interpretations concerning the metal image of Daniel 2 is that the two
legs of iron represent the East-West division of the Roman Empire which occurred around 395
AD. This view is accepted by all popular modern prophecy teachers. In this article we are going
to examine the problems with this view and why it CANNOT be correct.
In Daniel 2 we read the following: “This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms
of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.”
(Daniel 2:32-33)
Just as the image has two legs of iron, it also has two arms of silver
and two thighs of brass. Why don’t the proponents of the East-West
division of Rome view make the same thing with the two arms and the
two thighs? After all just as the image has one leg to the right and one
to the left it also has one arm and one thigh to the right and one arm
and one thigh to the left. If the two legs represent East-West division
then the two arms and the two thighs MUST also represent East-West
division.
We know that the arms of silver represent the Medo-Persian Empire.
This empire was not divided into East-West division but was an
Empire under two leaderships with the rulers of Persia having higher
authority than the ruler or Media. Besides, the Medo-Persian Empire
cannot be classified as an East-West composite kingdom. Empires
were politically represented by their capitals and the capital of Media
(Ectabana) was to the North of the capitals of Persia (Persepolis &
Susa) thus the two arms CANNOT represent East and West.
The two thighs of brass represent the Grecian Empire. The Bible and
history tell us that the Grecian Empire was divided into four parts:
“And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is
between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas
four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation,
but not in his power.” (Daniel 8:21-22)
If the two legs of Iron represent a two-fold East-West division then the two thighs of brass
MUST also represent a two-fold East-West division. Now we have a problem because the
Grecian Empire was divided into four parts. Later in history two of those four parts had
political influence over the Jews in the land of Israel. They were the Seleucid Kingdom in the
NORTH and the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the SOUTH. They are referred to in Daniel 11 as the
kings of the north and the kings of the south and are referred according to their geographic
relation to the land of Israel. If the two thighs of brass represent any geographical and political
division, they must be North and South just as the two arms of silver, not East and West.
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The Roman Empire was literally divided into East and West with Rome as the Western capital
and Constantinople as the Eastern capital. This historical fact has led prophecy teachers to
believe that the two legs represent this East-West division of Rome. But why don’t they make
the same thing with the arms of silver and the thighs of brass? Is it because there are no
historical events to support that? Perhaps, but if they argue that the two legs of iron (one to the
right and one to the left) must represent an East-West division of the empire represented by the
legs of iron then the same must be true with the arms and thighs.
The fact of the matter is that that God was not using the arms, the thighs and the legs to
represent East-West division but was just using the metal man’s image with different metals to
represent successive kingdoms. The metal man’s image cannot help but have two arms two
thighs and two legs unless the image was a freak. Now if people want to argue that the two legs
of iron must indeed represent the East-West division of Rome, then there is a major problem
that is overlooked by those who defend this theory.
The fall of the Western Roman took place less than one hundred years after the East-West
division but the Eastern Roman Empire lasted for more than a thousand years after the EastWest division. So what you might ask? Well, if the two legs represent the division of Rome and
the Eastern leg outlasted the Western leg for a thousand years, the metal image would have to
be standing on only one leg, yet we see both legs standing till the end when the clay gets mixed
with the iron in the image’s feet.
There are many today who are looking for a revived Roman Empire. The honest ones are
expecting the West to be reunited with the East so the Roman Empire can be fully revived. The
dishonest ones are saying that the European Union which encompasses the Western portion of
the old Roman Empire is already the revived Roman Empire. If the Roman Empire must be
revived, then those who are pointing to the European Union totally ignore that their “revived
Roman Empire” is missing a huge piece of territory which must include parts of the Middle
East and North Africa.
Another problem is that the kingdom represented by the iron was supposed to crush or conquer
the other three kingdoms, Babylon Medo-Persian and Grecia, something which Rome never
accomplished. Rome conquered the Greek and Syrian portions of the Grecian Empire, only
reached Babylon for a few months in 116-117 AD and was forced to retreat from Mesopotamia
after the death of Emperor Trajan. Rome was never able to conquer the heart of Persia during
countless battle against the Parthian and Sessanid Empires.
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Map of the Roman-Persian frontier. Notice that Rome was never able to keep Babylon and
reach Persia.
In Daniel we read: “And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks
in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces
and crush all the others.” (Daniel 2:40)
According to this verse the fourth kingdom represented by the iron has to conquer all the other
three kingdoms and Rome never did it. The Arab-Muslim Empire on the other not only
conquered Babylon, Medo-Persia and the major divisions of the Grecian Empire but it also
reached all the way to India in the east and to Spain in the west by 850 AD. In 1500 AD even
the Greek-Macedonian region which gave birth to the Grecian Empire came under Islamic rule.
Today the Islamic world encompasses the entire Middle East and surrounding areas such as
North Africa, Western Asia. If the prophecy in Daniel is taken literally only the Islamic
kingdom was able to fulfill its requirement whereas Rome was not. That being the case the feet
of iron and clay must be a confederacy of nations based on the Arab-Muslim Empire, not on
Europe and Babylon (Iraq), Persia (Iran) and Seleucid & Ptolemaic Grecia (Syria, Northern Iraq
& Egypt, Libya and Sudan) must be part of the confederacy for in Daniel we read:
“Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet
[that were] of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass,
the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces TOGETHER, and became like the chaff of the
summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them:
and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”
(Daniel 2:34-35)
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If the gold (Babylon), the silver (Persia), the brass (Seleucid and Ptoleamic Grecia) and the iron
and the clay (Arab-Muslim Empire) are destroyed by Jesus TOGETHER, then Iraq, Iran, Syria,
Egypt, Libya, Sudan and other nations that come out of the Islamic world such as Turkey and
Saudi Arabia among others must be part of the confederacy represented by the feet of iron and
clay. The interesting thing is that Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Zephaniah all mentions these
nations by their ancient names as coming under God’s wrath. Daniel saw them symbolically
instead of seeing them literally like the other prophets.
Points to Consider
If people want to make such a big deal about the two legs representing East and West division
geographically, then we have to consider the following:
(1) If the metals of the image not only represent kingdoms but also geographical extents, we
must have a geographical point of reference to see if the division of Rome is really what
is intended by the two legs of Iron. That geographical point of reference would have to
be Babylon since it was the first kingdom represented by the statue.
(2) The head of gold is the center of the image, that is, above and between the two arms, the
two thighs and the two legs. If the arms, thighs and legs represent East and West
geographical extents, the three following kingdoms must have spread to the east and to
the west of Babylon.
The Medo-Persian Empire accomplished this task, the Grecian Empire accomplished this task
and the Arab-Muslim Empire accomplished this task. Did Rome ever spread to the east of
Babylon? The answer is an emphatic NO! That being the case, the left leg of the image
CANNOT represent the eastern division of Rome. It never extended to the east of Babylon
which is our geographical point of reference as the first kingdom represented by the head of the
statue.
Today the Arab-Muslim Empire has not only spread to the east and to the east of Babylon, but
also to the north and to the south. Remember that in the beginning of this article we saw that the
two arms of silver could represent Media in the North and Persia in the South? Remember that
we also saw that the two thighs of brass could represent the Seleucid kingdom in the North and
the Ptolemaic kingdom in the South? Now if the same principle applies to the legs of iron, the
Arab-Muslim Empire has also spread to the north and to the south of Babylon and Jerusalem
which is the territory in view as far the times of the Gentiles are concerned.
The main theme of Daniel is the times of the Gentiles or the kingdoms that would exercise
political authority of Jerusalem and Islam has its feet there today as it rules the Temple Mount.
If people want to argue that the legs represent either north and south or east and west with
Babylon being our primary geographical point of reference, the Islamic world which is an
extension of the Arab Muslim Empire fulfills both geographical expectation whereas Rome
fulfills none of them. If Jerusalem is our point of reference, look around it and tell yourself who
dominates the surrounding areas. Rome is not there but Islam is.
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Map of the Islamic world. Notice Israel in red as it is surrounded by Islamic nations.
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about.”
(Zechariah 12:2) “Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves
together round about.” (Joel 3:11)
The context of Joel 3 talks about God judging the nations for dividing His land. The main
parties addressed are Tyre and Sidon (Lebanon), the coasts of Palestine (Gaza and the
Palestinians), Egypt and Edom (Southern Jordan and Northwestern Saudi Arabia). These are
some of the nations represented by the feet of iron and clay in Daniel 2 which must also include
Turkey, Syria, Libya, Iraq and Iran. Zechariah and Joel call them the people or the heathen
“round about,” or the nations that surround Jerusalem. Does Europe surround Jerusalem? The
map above shows us that the Islamic-Arab world does whereas Europe is to the far Northwest.
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