(4) a “fearsome and terrible and unusually strong” wild beast not corresponding to any actual animal. This fourth beast had large iron teeth, ten horns and another, a “small” horn, developing with eyes and a “mouth speaking grandiose things.”​—Dan. 7:3-8.

What about this fourth beast’s ten horns and the other horn with eyes and a “mouth speaking grandiose things”? (Dan. 7:8) At times the Scriptures use horns to symbolize rulers and ruling dynasties. (Dan. 8:2-10, 20-22; Zech. 1:18-21; Luke 1:69-71) The number ten denotes fullness, entirety, the sum of all that exists of something. (Matt. 25:1; Luke 15:8; 19:13, 16, 17) History shows that the Roman Empire eventually broke up into various nations. The ten horns of this fourth beast evidently represent all the kingdoms that resulted after Rome’s dissolution.

As for the “small” horn that appeared among the ten, during the eighteenth century C.E., Britain, a onetime minor imperial subject of Rome, rose to prominence as the foremost commercial and political power in the world. Because of close ties and general unity of action, Britain and the United States today are often referred to as the Anglo-American World Power. This power well fits the Biblical description of the “small” horn.