How did Rome's rule over the general population compare with earlier empires?
Rome exercised control over the general population of the then-known world to a degree unmatched by any earlier empire. Its rule was politically strong, devouring and subduing peoples, and it was diverse, differing from previous empires because it introduced a democratic form of government never before conceived.
Les explains that the Romans had control of the then-known world over the general population like no other empire before it. In the imagery of the vision, Rome had great iron teeth, was strong politically, devoured and broke pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet. It was also diverse, or different, from all the empires before it. Les says this difference was because Rome was the beginning of a democratic form of government that had never been dreamed of before. He then notes that the semicolon jumps about 1,700 years, from the Roman empire to the appearance of the European community as the revived Roman empire, with ten horns, which in Scripture refer to kings.