It's some one or something that had been in the earth before Revelations was written but was not at that time (Revelation 17:8=in the pit) and would return from the pit afterwards. So it's not Babylon, Rome, Egypt, Greece, Nero,Claudius, Vespasian,Titus ect. because they were all in the earth and not in the pit.
Daniel 2:31-45 (HCSB)
[SUP]31 [/SUP] “My king, as you were watching, a colossal statue appeared. That statue, tall and dazzling, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was terrifying.
[SUP]32 [/SUP] The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its stomach and thighs were bronze,
[SUP]33 [/SUP] its legs were iron, and its feet were partly iron and partly fired clay.
[SUP]34 [/SUP] As you were watching, a stone broke off without a hand touching it, struck the statue on its feet of iron and fired clay, and crushed them.
[SUP]35 [/SUP] Then the iron, the fired clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were shattered and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
[SUP]36 [/SUP] “This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation.
[SUP]37 [/SUP] Your Majesty, you are king of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.
[SUP]38 [/SUP] Wherever people live—or wild animals, or birds of the air—He has handed them over to you and made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
[SUP]39 [/SUP] “After you, there will arise another kingdom, inferior to yours, and then another, a third kingdom, of bronze, which will rule the whole earth.
[SUP]40 [/SUP] A fourth kingdom will be as strong as iron; for iron crushes and shatters everything, and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all the others.
[SUP]41 [/SUP] You saw the feet and toes, partly of a potter’s fired clay and partly of iron—it will be a divided kingdom, though some of the strength of iron will be in it. You saw the iron mixed with clay, {The TOES represent ten Kings or Rulers involved in Ruling the FINAL FORM or the IRON EMPIRE, literally a REVIVAL of the ROMAN EMPIRE.}
[SUP]42 [/SUP] and that the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly fired clay—part of the kingdom will be strong, and part will be brittle.
[SUP]43 [/SUP] You saw the iron mixed with clay—the peoples will mix with one another but will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with fired clay. {THE NEXT VERSE CLEARLY TELLS US, that those FINAL RULERS will be Ruling at the TIME CHRIST COMES BACK TO SET UP HIS EARTHLY KINGDOM.}
[SUP]44 [/SUP] “In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.
{THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST AS DESCRIBED IN ZECH 14 & REV 19, describes more details of the crushing of those NATIONS.}
SO MUCH FOR THE DUMB THEORY THAT IT ALL HAPPENED AT THE TIME OR NEAR 70 AD. The Head Ruler rising from within that TEN NATION CONFEDERACY, will be the ONE that Satan Himself will POSSESS, becoming the Antichrist. Interestingly, there currently is a Political Movement within the European Union that is trying to Take Over, and several Nations have threatened to drop out of the European Union if that happens.