Ancient futurologists

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Χριστόφορος
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Ancient futurologists

Post by Χριστόφορος »

Hey guys,

There's a question that's been bugging me for some time, and I'm not exactly sure where to ask it, but I thought this site and forum might yield some answers.

Basically, I'm very curious to know whether there any records of what Ancient Greeks or Romans thought the world would look like far into the future. As in, say, 1000, 2000 years from their time? How close did they come to the idea of electronics or space travel etc. ? Were there futurologists at all during the extensive "ancient period" (stretching from Ancient Greece, through to the fall of the Roman empire)? My history on the subject is shamefully shaky, but surely there must have been one ancient historian who mused over and wrote about what the world would look like far into the future.

Are there any such records? How close did they get?

I look forward to your replies! :)

rkday
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Re: Ancient futurologists

Post by rkday »

http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/LucianSamosata.htm might be of interest, though it's not exactly what you're asking about.

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Jefferson Cicero
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Re: Ancient futurologists

Post by Jefferson Cicero »

I got to reading Lucian and it was so intriguing that I couldn't stop. Thanks for the link. I had no idea there existed such stories as these in the Ancient world.
'Greek had to be simplified, and Latin had to be replaced with Italian, because we barbarians stole so many Greek and Latin words.'

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