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Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §7.49.1

Foreseeing the Future from the Repetition of History

Passage 245 of 486 · Greek

Summary

By contemplating the past changes of empires, one can foresee that the future will follow the same rhythm as the present, meaning that observing human life for forty years is equivalent to observing it for ten thousand years.

§7.49.1Τὰ προγεγονότα ἀναθεωρεῖν, τὰς τοσαύτας τῶν ἡγεμονιῶν μεταβολάς.
To contemplate the past, those so many mutations of empires.
ἔξεστι καὶ τὰ ἐσόμενα προεφορᾶν· ὁμοειδῆ γὰρ πάντως ἔσται καὶ οὐχ οἷόν τε ἐκβῆναι τοῦ ῥυθμοῦ τῶν νῦν γινομένων·
It is possible also to foresee the things which will be; for they will certainly be of like form, and it is not possible for them to deviate from the rhythm of things now taking place.
ὅθεν καὶ ἴσον τὸ τεσσαράκοντα ἔτεσιν ἱστορῆσαι τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον τῷ ἐπὶ ἔτη μύρια· τί γὰρ πλέον ὄψει;
Wherefore, to have observed human life for forty years is the same as for ten thousand years; for what more will you see?

Notes

  1. §7.49.1ἀναθεωρεῖν — This infinitive is either understood as continuing under the influence of the impersonal verb δεῖ ("one must") from the preceding section (7.48.1), or used independently as an infinitive for imperative. In either case, it conveys a hortatory force ("one should contemplate").
  2. §7.49.1τῷ ἐπὶ ἔτη μύρια — This dative expression is governed by ἴσον ("equal to"). The neuter singular dative article τῷ acts pronominally to represent the preceding infinitive phrase τὸ ... ἱστορῆσαι τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον, resulting in an elliptical structure meaning "to that [sc. observing human life] for ten thousand years."

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §7.49.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.49.1

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