Two years after the vision of described Daniel 7, Daniel has another vision. This time, a ram tramples a goat. Similarly to Daniel 7, this vision is explained by someone within the vision. Daniel falls prostrate before "Gabriel" who explains the vision's meaning. The goat represents the kings of the Medes and Persians. The Medo-Persian kingdom will be destroyed by the Greek kingdom, represented by the ram. This would be Alexander the Great.
The ram will have four horns, which represent the four divisions of the Greek empire.
Putting this together with Daniel 7, the ram and the goat represent two beasts that were overlooked by Daniel. Daniel was most curious about the 4th beast. Here he gets specific information about the 2nd and 3rd beast (that is if we assume that the appearance of the beasts of Daniel 7 represents their chronological appearance).
This is a perfect time to discuss the scholarly controversy that is when Daniel was written. This specificity in Daniel 8 is why many scholars think that Daniel was actually written during the Maccabean revolt of around 180 BC. This would place its writing after the rise and fall of the Greek empire. According to this theory, this would explain why Daniel 8 is so specific about the Greek Empire and the transition to four kingdoms after Alexander's death.
The other theory is that Daniel was written in the 6th century BC, several centuries before the life of Alexander the Great.
Regardless if one believes in an early or late writing of Daniel, Daniel 1 and Daniel 7 also somewhat precisely predict:
1. The rise and fall of the Roman Empire
2. The kingdom of God will appear during the Roman Empire
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