What is a "little horn"

In Daniel 8, a beast (kingdom) is described as a he-goat with a single notable horn (king) which defeats a previous great kingdom, and when grown strong, is broken (dies) and is replaced by four notable horns toward the four winds. If you know your history at all, this is a clear allegory for the kingdom of Alexander the Great. He came from the west (Greece) and conquered the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. Then at the height of his power, he suddenly took sick and died, leaving his kingdom to "the strongest". His generals fought over the succession and eventually stabilized into four kingdoms: Ptolemy ruled Egypt in the south, Seleucus ruled Persia and everything east, Antigonus ruled Greece in the west, and Cassander ruled in the north over Thracia and parts of Asia minor.

While the allegory is clearly depicting ancient events (to us; they were still in Daniel's future), the angel tells Daniel "at the time of the end shall be the vision." This is a pattern in Hebrew revelation, in which events in old times are also types for events in end times. Thus the vision refers to multiple events at different times, and by studying the past events we know about, we can learn more about the characteristics of future events.

The next thing in Daniel's vision is a little horn which comes out of (is a descendant of) one of the four, and takes away the daily sacrifice. We might think of notable descendents such as Demetrius or Pyrrhus, but these people did not attack Jerusalem. And the horn is "little" instead of "notable" like the four horns. The person who fits the description of the little horn is Antiochus, king of the Seleucid empire, and his wars with the Jews are described in the books of the Maccabees. He is a wicked and prideful man, and caused the temple to be desecrated, forced Jews to eat pork, and many other things which I will not recount. He did not win great battles, even though he called himself a god. Basically, he was a weak man who came to power by inheritance, who boasted much, and accomplished little other than wicked deeds. This is the character of a "little horn".

I conclude by quoting Jordan Peterson, "And if you think tough men are dangerous, wait until you see what weak men are capable of."