Some like to pic-n-choose verses to cover while leaving others out which affect the interpretation...
Although there is a lot of truth in what you say in your OP, what you say above is exactly what you are doing with this, because you have chosen to isolate Daniel 7 from Daniel 8 and 11 which are talking about the same kingdoms and the same fourth kingdom, and interpret Daniel 7 on its own, making yourself guilty of picking-n-choosing which texts of scripture to cover, while leaving others out which affect the interpretation.
So you are 100% guilty of doing what you accuse anyone who disagrees with your interpretation of the text of doing.
Let's take a look at the three kingdoms when they are again mentioned in Daniel chapter 8:
Daniel 8:20-25
"The ram which you saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
And the shaggy goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king. And as for that being broken, and four stood up in its place; four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in its power."
(The Diadochi wars which broke out after the death of Alexander he Great eventually led to the empire of Alexander the Great being divided up into four regions, with Ptolemy, Cassander, Antigonus, and Seleucis ruling over Egypt, Macedonia, Asia Minor, and Persia).
HERE ARE THE IMPORTANT VERSES THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED IN INTERPRETATION OF THE TEXT:
Daniel 8:20-25
"And in the latter time of THEIR kingdom, .."
(in the latter time of the kings of the Greek kingdom after it was divided into four parts):
"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full, a king, fierce of face, and skilled at intrigues, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power.
And he shall destroy marvelously, and shall prosper and work, and destroy the mighty and the holy people. And also through his understanding, he shall cause deceit to succeed in his hand. And he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many. He also shall stand up against the Ruler of rulers. But he shall be broken without a hand."
IF THERE EVER WAS A PERSON WHO FULFILLED THE ABOVE, HE IS THE TYPE OF THE ANTICHRIST - THE 8TH KING WHOSE POWER IS NOT BY HIS OWN POWER -
because the 10 kings will hand over all their power and authority to him, and the kingdom itself will receive its kingdom, power and authority from Satan (Revelation 13 & Revelation 17).
SO WAS THERE SOMEONE WHO FULFILLED THE ABOVE?
The latter time of the Greek Kingdom was WAY EARLIER than when the Roman Empire rose to power. Rome was still a republic until 31 B.C, and due to civil wars and internal conflicts, the Roman Republic had become very destabilized by 31 B.C. Octavian was only named "Augustus" in 31 B.C. The last Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, lived from 70/69 B.C to 30 B.C, and reigned from 51 B.C to 30 B.C. It was only after her death that the formerly strong Ptolemaic Egyptian kingdom became a province of a newly formed Roman Empire.
Again, you have chosen to isolate Daniel 7 from Daniel 8 and 11 which are talking about the same kingdoms, and interpret Daniel 7 on its own, making yourself guilty of "picking-n-choosing which texts of scripture to cover, while leaving others out which affect the interpretation.
100% guilty.
Daniel 11:29-30: The Seleucid kingdom, the Ptlolemaic (Egyptian) kingdom, and the Roman republic:
In 170 B.C Antiochus IV of the Seleucid kingdom attacked Egypt, succeeded in his campaign, and installed a puppet king. Then he withdrew - but the kingdom reverted to the rule of the Ptolemaic Egyptian kings after his withdrawal.
In 168 B.C Antiochus IV attacked Egypt again, but he was forced to withdraw because the Roman republic, allied to Egypt, threatened him with war with Rome if he did not, and Rome, though it was not yet an empire, had a powerful navy at its disposal. Gaius Popillius Laenas, Roman ambassador, drew a circle around Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 168 B.C and told him to consider himself at war with Rome if he steps out of the circle before giving the ambassador a reply as to whether or not he would withdraw from Egypt. This is recorded in Daniel 11:29-30.
After he was forced to withdraw from Egypt in 168 B.C, Antiochus IV turned his attention against the Jews and Jerusalem, breathing hatred of their religion and culture. It's at this point that he defiled the temple sanctuary in Jerusalem, placing an abomination of desolation in it (Daniel 11:31-39).
In 167 BC, Antiochus IV ordered an altar to Zeus, "the king of the gods" erected in the temple in Jerusalem, and compelled Jews to dissolve the laws of Judea, to keep their infants un-circumcised, and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar (see Daniel 8:11-14; Daniel 11:31 and Daniel 12:11).
Antiochus IV Epiphanes reigned in the latter years of the four Greek kingdoms. He fulfilled what was written about the fourth kingdom - but did not complete the prophecy, because the fourth kingdom will be destroyed by Christ. It's the kingdom that had once existed, but did not exist when John received the Revelation, that John was told will ascend from the bottomless pit and go to perdition.
Its 10 kings are not "Roman" or Western. They are Middle-Eastern.
These are the four beasts being spoken of in Daniel 7, and it was way to early for the Roman Empire. Revelation 13:2 also identifies the final kingdom as the same kingdoms: lion, leopard and bear - not the Roman Empire. The legs of iron were the two kingdoms of the Greek kingdom that became the most dominant of the four kingdoms before the demise of these kingdoms - Egypt and Seleucia.
The feet of the entire image hold the image up, and no part of the image was Roman. The ten kings and the king who they will hand over all their power and authority to, will be destroyed by Christ when He returns. They are the kings of the kingdoms of the lion, the leopard and the bear.