I've been thinking about the Roman Empire (mini)
In dire times, many people look backward. Some people look backward to nostalgically yearn for a time that never existed. This ill-placed yearning then fuels their disdain for the now. It is a meaningless, fruitless, and ultimately pointless exercise in looking backward. Some people, like historians, look backward to bring some comfort to the modern audience. Scholar treatises remind us that there will always be conflicts. There will always be suffering. We are creatures of folly that will be in someways be doomed. I've been reading a lot of Roman politics especially about political upheavals, violent coups, and executions without trial. But while I was reading a lot about Roman politics, I read about Cicero's and the death of his daughter. He wrote about his grief, and the few surviving remnants paint a broken man. He grieves like other men, both before and after his times. We are ultimately perpetual creatures.