Daniel 8:8

Clearly this description corresponds to that of the third beast in Daniel 7:6. Alexander magnified himself exceedingly in two ways. He extended the borders of his empire after he conquered Medo-Persia even farther east, into modern Afghanistan and to the Indus Valley. Alexander’s empire covered one and a half million square miles. [Note: Whitcomb, p. 111.] He also became extremely arrogant. He regarded himself as divine and made his soldiers bow down before him. This resulted in his troops revolting. [Note: Archer, "Daniel," p. 97.]

"Expositors, both liberal and conservative, have interpreted this verse as representing the untimely death of Alexander and the division of his empire into four major sections. Alexander, who had conquered more of the world than any previous ruler, was not able to conquer himself. Partly due to a strenuous exertion, his dissipated life, and a raging fever, Alexander died in a drunken debauch at Babylon, not yet thirty-three years of age. His death left a great conquest without an effective single leader, and it took about twenty years for the empire to be successfully divided." [Note: Walvoord, Daniel . . ., p. 184.]

As mentioned in my comments on Daniel 7:6, the most probable identifications of the four horns are Lysimachus, Cassander, Seleucus, and Ptolemy (cf. Daniel 11:4). [Note: Young, p. 169; Leupold, p. 344; Montgomery, pp. 332-33; Walvoord, Daniel . . ., p. 184.] Lysimachus ruled the northern part of Alexander’s empire, Cassander the western part, Seleucus the eastern part, and Ptolemy the southern part.