Introduction : A new order of the ages -- Omen history : Sulla and the Etruscans on periodization -- Eternal returns : cataclysmic destruction in Greek and Roman thought -- Inflection points : progress and decline narratives with periodization -- Beyond the Metallic Ages : technical histories and culture heroes -- Acting your age : periodization in Roman politics after Sulla -- Pyramids and fish wrappers : Roman literary periodization -- Conclusion : Spaces after periods