ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the Annales historians, a project of understanding long stretches of history by integrating knowledge of stable elements. Whereas earlier historians in this tradition have focused mostly on geography and other such external physical elements, recent developments in cognitive science has made it possible to say something more tangible about the stable elements of human cognition. The chapter integrates contemporary knowledge of the stable elements of human psychology and tries to show how this can aid us in understanding the long stretches of history. This period forms the bulk of our evidence of prodigies in the Roman republic. Another indication that oral circulation was prior to report is existence of doublets. The acceptance procedure can be sketched as falling into distinct sequences. Consequently, interest for the history of the longue dure is the circulation and acceptance of prodigies.
