Daniel: Dating

The events in the book of Daniel happened at the time of the Babylonian exile.

Traditionally the book is dated to the period of the exile. In this period, the upper strata of the Judean people remained as exiles in Babylonia, after the capture and destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC.

Nowadays most scholars think that the book of Daniel was not written during the Babylonian exile. This is the result of historical research and study of the language and style of the book.
The modern general opinion is that the book, in its present form, comes from the first half of the second century BC, around 165 BC. This is because the author displays a thorough knowledge of history after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) up to and including the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 BC).
The background of the book is the revolt by the Maccabees. They fought against the cruel Greek ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, chiefly in revolt against the growing Greek influence on Jewish worship and cultural customs.
The author of Daniel did not write openly about this resistance but surreptitiously used stories from an earlier period to demonstrate his point.