--- title: 5 Ancient Predictions That Came True description: "History is full of predictions. Most of these are supposedly divine in nature, espoused by charlatans and con artists seeking to make money and a name for themselves with their alleged mystical powers. Those predictions almost never turn out to be accurate, and when they do it's typically because one person made such a large volume of predictions that by sheer probability one of them eventually had to be right.\n\nInstead of glorifying a bunch of frauds for their one lucky guess amidst a thousand false prophecies, today we'll be looking at predictions that were rooted in science, logic, or at the very least a strong desire to not be executed.\n\n## The Ascension of Emperor Vespasian\n\nWhile the other ancient predictions in today's episode took thousands of years to be proven true, this one only took a couple years. Not only that, but it may have saved the prophet's life.\n\nJoseph ben Matthias was a Jewish historian and military leader, born in Jerusalem in the first century AD. Judea was under Roman rule at the time, but they didn't much care for this so they were trying to drive the Romans off their land. Joseph was the military governor of Galilee, and Flavius Vespasian was a general in the Roman legion who had been ordered to quash the Jewish rebellion.\n\nThe Jewish-Roman war began in 66 AD, and like much of history, it did not go well for the Jews. Joseph helped lead the defense against the Romans during the Siege of Yodfat in 67 AD, but eventually the Romans prevailed. The Roman military slaughtered Jews by the thousands, and those that survived took their own lives.\n\nJoseph and about 40 of his men were trapped in a cave hiding from the Romans, but they were eventually discovered by Vespasian's son, Titus. They refused to surrender, instead opting for a complex method of group suicide in which they drew lots and killed each other one by one. By the time Titus and his men were able to capture the enemy combatants, Joseph was one of only two survivors remaining.\n\nThey became prisoners and were likely in danger of being executed, but Joseph had a plan for survival. His father had been a Jewish priest, so he was well versed in scripture. Drawing upon the religious texts, Joseph told Vespasian of a prophecy that he would exit Judea and become ruler of the entire world. Many scholars believe this was likely a bastardized version of the Star Prophecy, a messianic prophecy that Joseph adapted on the fly to save his own life.\n\nVespasian was pleased enough with the prophecy that he only took Joseph prisoner rather than executing him, but little could Joseph have guessed that it would only take about 18 months for his prediction to become true. The year after this happened, Emperor Nero killed himself. The resulting power struggle became known as The Year of the Four Emperors, but at the end of that year Vespasian began his ten year reign as Rome's new emperor.\n\nJoseph was not only released from prison, but he was granted Roman citizenship and the name Flavius Josephus, meaning that he now had the same family name as the new emperor. He spent the rest of his life working as a historian, which gave him the opportunity to write about the Jewish-Roman war from the Jewish perspective.\n\nWas this ancient prediction anything short of dumb luck on Joseph's part? Of course not, but a prediction doesn't need to be divine in nature or based on advanced scientific insights in order to be accurate. But since dumb luck like this rarely makes the history books, let's instead turn our attention towards some predictions that were a bit more scientific in nature.\n\n## The Atom\n\nIt began as a philosophical argument based in logic, but it evolved into much more than that. During the 5th century BC, there were two main ideas regarding natural science. One was that everything was comprised of the four key elements earth, wind, water, and fire. Aristotle adapted that theory to include a fifth element, aether, which was a divine substance. The other prevailing theory was monism, the belief that all things are one and that there is no void.\n\nThis changed with Leucippus, who is credited as being the founder of atomism. The theory was refined with the help of his student, Democritus, who took a more scientific approach instead of Leucippus' philosophical one.\n\nAccording to Leucippus, everything in the world had to be made up of tiny, invisible particles called atoms. These atoms came in an infinite number of shapes and sizes, but each individual atom was fixed and unchanging. Despite the structure being fixed, he argued that atoms were in a constant state of motion. He believed that these atoms combined into larger structures to create the world around us, and thought that they could be rearranged to create different objects.\n\nHis argument was centered on the principle that, at the tiniest level, matter had to be indivisible. If all matter was divisible, it would be impossible for it to hold any solid structure or be tangible.\n\nIt is known that Democritus' view was a bit more refined and scientific, but none of his individual works have survived. Many of his contributions and his influence were a part of Leucippus' books, but everything attributed specifically to Democritus comes from second hand sources like Aristotle. Aristotle was a contemporary to Democritus, and he saw the atomist as an important rival in natural science and natural philosophy.\n\nAccording to one of these second hand accounts, Democritus is quoted as saying, \"By convention sweet is sweet, by convention bitter is bitter, by convention hot is hot, by convention cold is cold, by convention color is color. But in reality there are atoms and the void.\" While they had no way to prove the existence of these atoms, early atomist predicted their existence. And as we now know, they were correct.\n\nIt wouldn't be until 1827 when Scottish botanist Robert Brown provided the first modern evidence for the existence of atoms through experiments involving pollen grains suspended in still water. The theory had already been gaining traction in the early 1800s, but this experiment was regarded as the first real proof of atoms. Although our modern understanding of atoms is quite a bit different than what Leucippus and Democritus predicted, they were definitely on the right track.\n\n## Germ Theory\n\nThe history of medicine is a weird thing. Antibiotics weren't discovered until 1928, yet penicillin has been in use since the Ancient Egyptians. They had no idea what penicillin was or why or how it worked, but they would rub moldy bread on wounds because it seemed to help fight infections. This sort of trial and error was the basis of ancient medicine, and there were certainly upsides to the experimental nature. Unfortunately, once a consensus on what was happening was reached, future evidence was adapted to fit the existing theory.\n\nAnd even more unfortunate, for thousands of years until the end of the 19th century, the prevailing theory was miasma theory. This theory stated that diseases were caused by miasma, the Ancient Greek word for pollution. Basically, it was \"bad air\" that caused diseases. The main source of the disease bearing miasma was rotting organic life, be it plants or animals, and the terrible stench that was given off by the rotting materials was the warning that they bore disease.\n\nThe good news is that other potential sources of miasma were things like contaminated water and unsanitary living conditions, so there was some benefit to trying to combat these. However, miasma theory posited that disease could not pass directly from one person to the next. Outbreaks of disease were attributed to powerful, localized miasma rather than person to person spread.\n\nHowever, there were a few dissenting voices from the ancient world who predicted something different. They believed that disease wasn't caused by the foul stench of death, that was just an unpleasant byproduct of the disease. Instead, diseases were caused by creatures so small that they couldn't be seen with the naked eye.\n\nThe first such prediction came sometime between 1200 and 1000 BC from Ancient India. In the Artharva Veda, Rishi Kanva spoke of tiny, invisible creatures called Krimi that were the source of diseases. The Krimi were malevolent, demonic spirits of a supernatural origin, so quite a bit different than bacteria or viruses, but it was still a lot closer to reality than miasma theory was.\n\nFast forward about a thousand years, and a few Romans and Greeks had moved to a similar theory based more in natural science than the supernatural. Some Ancient Greek physicians speculated about \"seeds of disease\" that might enter a person's body, inhaled through the air. Though it removed any mystic elements of disease, it saw disease as being spread by inert seeds rather than by living organisms.\n\nThe most accurate prediction from ancient times came from Roman statesman and author Marcus Terentius Varro. In his Three Books on Agriculture from 36 BC, Marcus wrote, \"Precautions must also be taken in the neighborhood of swamps... because there are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases.\"\n\nEspecially given that the malodorous nature of swamps lined up with miasma theory, this was a remarkably accurate prediction for the time. Thanks to the abundance of low quality, stagnant water, swamps are often the perfect location for bacteria to breed. While swamps may be home to airborne bacteria, they are also breeding grounds to disease vectors like mosquitoes.\n\nThough these early predictions about the true nature of disease were far closer to the truth than the prevailing theory at the time, it would be well over a thousand years before germ theory would start to gain any real traction, and nearly 2,000 years before it would finally be proven true.\n\n## The Big Bang\n\nEvery religion has its own creation myth, and many religions have found ways to work the Big Bang Theory into their creation stories. This shouldn't come as a surprise, as the Big Bang Theory was first formalized by Father Georges Lemaître, a Roman Catholic priest and professor of theoretical physics from Belgium.\n\nHow loosely the original texts had to be interpreted varied from religion to religion, but for Hindus nothing had to be changed at all. They had already predicted the Big Bang roughly 3,000 years earlier, sometime between 1500 and 1000 BC.\n\nAccording to the story in the Hindu Rig Veda, the entire universe was contained within the Hiranyagarbha, a tiny, cosmic egg that floated in an infinite void of non-existence. From this egg exploded the entire universe. While an egg is larger than the proposed singularity at the beginning of the universe, the idea is the same.\n\nHowever, the Hindu creation story is also cyclical in nature. The universe all expanded from a single point, and it will all collapse back in on itself to that single point again, reforming the Hiranyagarbha. According to the Rig Veda, this has happened multiple times already and will continue to happen, presumably for all eternity.\n\nIf the second half of that sounds familiar, that's the basis of the Big Crunch, the theory that the universe will stop expanding, collapse back in on itself, and initiate another Big Bang. This theory has fallen out of favour in recent years as evidence shows that the expansion of the universe continues to accelerate in all directions rather than slowing down, making a Big Crunch less likely.\n\nIf nothing else, we can at least say that the Rig Veda predicted the formalization of the Big Bang and Big Crunch theories. And who knows, maybe it really did accurately predict the true nature of our universe. The evidence currently suggests that the Big Crunch theory is not accurate, but unless you're going to wait around to personally witness the heat death of the universe, there's no way to disprove it for sure.\n\n## Evolution\n\nBorn in 610 BC, the Greek philosopher Anaximander of Miletus was a bit of a revolutionary. He transformed science by introducing the idea of questioning and rejecting what had already been deemed to be fact. It was like a primitive version of the scientific method, and unlike anything that had been seen at the time.\n\nHe also was the first to suggest that the Earth was a free-floating object in the infinite vastness of space, not supported by anything. The previous theory was that Earth floated in \"the immense ocean from which everything is born\", though it is unclear what that theory suggested the ocean was floating in. While Anaximander's hypothesis was closer, he incorrectly believed Earth to be stationary \"because of its indifference\".\n\nBut he was also the first to predict that the universe was infinite and ageless. While we know it isn't ageless, it is strongly believed by many to in fact be infinite. There were numerous other predictions about the cosmos and the universe, including Anaximander's proposition of a manner of multiverse, but perhaps his most famous work was on the origin of man.\n\nAnaximander was the first to propose a theory of evolution. Or at the very least he proposed that evolution had taken place; it's unclear if he believed it was still going on, nor if he suggested any sort of driving factor in evolution like natural selection. However, not only did he correctly predict that humans had descended from other animals, but that we came from fish.\n\nOf course, his view on how that happened is a bit different than how it went. Rather than slowly evolving from fish to amphibians to mammals, he seemed to be of the belief that land animals were born directly from fish or fishlike animals. The land animals would grow inside the fish like embryos until puberty, at which point the fishlike animals would burst open and fully developed animals could walk out of their carcasses.\n\nIt sounds a little silly to us now, but his theory was based on the idea that, because humans remain helpless infants and toddlers that need to nurse from their mothers for such a long time, it would have been impossible for such creatures to survive in a harsh, primeval world in such a form. While that logic is certainly understandable, it's hard to say that the conclusion Anaximander drew from it is. Perhaps he explained it better in his own writing, but we'll unfortunately never know.\n\nDespite being such an important and influential figure, all of Anaximander's work was burned. Only a single fragment of his original writing remains, with everything we know of his work coming from the accounts of other ancient philosophers, scientists, and historians.\n\nBut perhaps these grandiose predictions regarding natural science weren't what you expected when you clicked on this episode, and you were hoping for more specific predictions about future events like Vespasian becoming emperor. Luckily, Anaximander has you covered there too.\n\nAccording to Roman scholar, philosopher, and skeptic Cicero, Anaximander saved an entire city from devastation with just such a prediction. The story goes that Anaximander went to the city of Lacedaemon and convinced all the inhabitants to abandon their homes and spend a night out in the countryside because an earthquake was near. That night the prediction came true, and the entire city collapsed.\n\nIt's unknown whether Anaximander knew anything about plate tectonics, if it was a lucky guess, or if it's just an apocryphal tale. And unless there is some long lost copy of his writings hidden away somewhere, it's unlikely that we'll ever know.\n\n## Key Takeaways\n\n- Joseph ben Matthias predicted Vespasian's rise to power, saving his own life.\n- Leucippus and Democritus proposed the existence of atoms, a theory later proven.\n- Ancient Indian and Roman texts predicted germ theory, contrary to miasma beliefs.\n- The Rig Veda described a creation event similar to the Big Bang theory.\n- Anaximander of Miletus proposed early ideas of evolution and natural science.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions\n\n### Who was Joseph ben Matthias and what role did he play in the Jewish-Roman war?\n\nJoseph ben Matthias was a Jewish historian and military leader who served as the military governor of Galilee during the Jewish-Roman war. He led the defense against the Romans during the Siege of Yodfat in 67 AD but was eventually captured.\n\n### What prophecy did Joseph ben Matthias tell Vespasian to save his life?\n\nJoseph ben Matthias told Vespasian of a prophecy that he would exit Judea and become ruler of the entire world, likely a bastardized version of the Star Prophecy.\n\n### What was the outcome of Joseph ben Matthias' prophecy about Vespasian?\n\nAbout 18 months after Joseph ben Matthias made his prophecy, Vespasian became the emperor of Rome, and Joseph was released from prison and granted Roman citizenship.\n\n### Who is credited with founding the theory of atomism?\n\nLeucippus is credited with founding the theory of atomism, which was later refined by his student, Democritus.\n\n### What did Leucippus and Democritus propose about the nature of matter?\n\nLeucippus and Democritus proposed that everything in the world is made up of tiny, invisible particles called atoms, which are in a constant state of motion and can combine to create different objects.\n\n### What was the prevailing theory of disease in ancient times?\n\nThe prevailing theory of disease in ancient times was miasma theory, which stated that diseases were caused by 'bad air' or miasma from rotting organic matter.\n\n### Who was the first to predict the existence of germs causing disease?\n\nRishi Kanva in the Artharva Veda of Ancient India was the first to predict the existence of tiny, invisible creatures called Krimi that were the source of diseases.\n\n### What did Marcus Terentius Varro predict about disease in his work?\n\nMarcus Terentius Varro predicted that there are certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases.\n\n### What is the Hindu creation story that aligns with the Big Bang theory?\n\nThe Hindu Rig Veda describes the entire universe as being contained within the Hiranyagarbha, a tiny, cosmic egg that floated in an infinite void of non-existence, from which the entire universe exploded.\n\n### Who was Anaximander and what was his contribution to the theory of evolution?\n\nAnaximander was a Greek philosopher who proposed that humans had descended from other animals, specifically from fish, suggesting a form of evolution.\n\n## Sources\n\n- [Original Side Projects video: 5 Ancient Predictions That Came True](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6PQgUVmGYU)\n\n## Related Coverage" url: https://sideprojects.pub/article/5-ancient-predictions-that-came-true.md canonical: https://sideprojects.pub/article/5-ancient-predictions-that-came-true datePublished: 2024-05-03 dateModified: 2026-07-28 author: - name: Simon Whistler url: https://sideprojects.pub/author/simon-whistler publisher: Side Projects image: "https://media.sideprojects.pub/cdn-cgi/image/width=1600,height=900,fit=cover,quality=80,format=auto/articles/i6PQgUVmGYU/hero.jpg" type: NewsArticle contentHash: 6ca5ccb265a52936b8888719c5581d69e3af057a0ab6b6fbcf410c05439da6ac tokens: 4684 summaryUrl: https://sideprojects.pub/article/5-ancient-predictions-that-came-true.md.summary.md --- History is full of predictions. Most of these are supposedly divine in nature, espoused by charlatans and con artists seeking to make money and a name for themselves with their alleged mystical powers. Those predictions almost never turn out to be accurate, and when they do it's typically because one person made such a large volume of predictions that by sheer probability one of them eventually had to be right. Instead of glorifying a bunch of frauds for their one lucky guess amidst a thousand false prophecies, today we'll be looking at predictions that were rooted in science, logic, or at the very least a strong desire to not be executed. ## The Ascension of Emperor Vespasian While the other ancient predictions in today's episode took thousands of years to be proven true, this one only took a couple years. Not only that, but it may have saved the prophet's life. Joseph ben Matthias was a Jewish historian and military leader, born in Jerusalem in the first century AD. Judea was under Roman rule at the time, but they didn't much care for this so they were trying to drive the Romans off their land. Joseph was the military governor of Galilee, and Flavius Vespasian was a general in the Roman legion who had been ordered to quash the Jewish rebellion. The Jewish-Roman war began in 66 AD, and like much of history, it did not go well for the Jews. Joseph helped lead the defense against the Romans during the Siege of Yodfat in 67 AD, but eventually the Romans prevailed. The Roman military slaughtered Jews by the thousands, and those that survived took their own lives. Joseph and about 40 of his men were trapped in a cave hiding from the Romans, but they were eventually discovered by Vespasian's son, Titus. They refused to surrender, instead opting for a complex method of group suicide in which they drew lots and killed each other one by one. By the time Titus and his men were able to capture the enemy combatants, Joseph was one of only two survivors remaining. They became prisoners and were likely in danger of being executed, but Joseph had a plan for survival. His father had been a Jewish priest, so he was well versed in scripture. Drawing upon the religious texts, Joseph told Vespasian of a prophecy that he would exit Judea and become ruler of the entire world. Many scholars believe this was likely a bastardized version of the Star Prophecy, a messianic prophecy that Joseph adapted on the fly to save his own life. Vespasian was pleased enough with the prophecy that he only took Joseph prisoner rather than executing him, but little could Joseph have guessed that it would only take about 18 months for his prediction to become true. The year after this happened, Emperor Nero killed himself. The resulting power struggle became known as The Year of the Four Emperors, but at the end of that year Vespasian began his ten year reign as Rome's new emperor. Joseph was not only released from prison, but he was granted Roman citizenship and the name Flavius Josephus, meaning that he now had the same family name as the new emperor. He spent the rest of his life working as a historian, which gave him the opportunity to write about the Jewish-Roman war from the Jewish perspective. Was this ancient prediction anything short of dumb luck on Joseph's part? Of course not, but a prediction doesn't need to be divine in nature or based on advanced scientific insights in order to be accurate. But since dumb luck like this rarely makes the history books, let's instead turn our attention towards some predictions that were a bit more scientific in nature. ## The Atom It began as a philosophical argument based in logic, but it evolved into much more than that. During the 5th century BC, there were two main ideas regarding natural science. One was that everything was comprised of the four key elements earth, wind, water, and fire. Aristotle adapted that theory to include a fifth element, aether, which was a divine substance. The other prevailing theory was monism, the belief that all things are one and that there is no void. This changed with Leucippus, who is credited as being the founder of atomism. The theory was refined with the help of his student, Democritus, who took a more scientific approach instead of Leucippus' philosophical one. According to Leucippus, everything in the world had to be made up of tiny, invisible particles called atoms. These atoms came in an infinite number of shapes and sizes, but each individual atom was fixed and unchanging. Despite the structure being fixed, he argued that atoms were in a constant state of motion. He believed that these atoms combined into larger structures to create the world around us, and thought that they could be rearranged to create different objects. His argument was centered on the principle that, at the tiniest level, matter had to be indivisible. If all matter was divisible, it would be impossible for it to hold any solid structure or be tangible. It is known that Democritus' view was a bit more refined and scientific, but none of his individual works have survived. Many of his contributions and his influence were a part of Leucippus' books, but everything attributed specifically to Democritus comes from second hand sources like Aristotle. Aristotle was a contemporary to Democritus, and he saw the atomist as an important rival in natural science and natural philosophy. According to one of these second hand accounts, Democritus is quoted as saying, "By convention sweet is sweet, by convention bitter is bitter, by convention hot is hot, by convention cold is cold, by convention color is color. But in reality there are atoms and the void." While they had no way to prove the existence of these atoms, early atomist predicted their existence. And as we now know, they were correct. It wouldn't be until 1827 when Scottish botanist Robert Brown provided the first modern evidence for the existence of atoms through experiments involving pollen grains suspended in still water. The theory had already been gaining traction in the early 1800s, but this experiment was regarded as the first real proof of atoms. Although our modern understanding of atoms is quite a bit different than what Leucippus and Democritus predicted, they were definitely on the right track. ## Germ Theory The history of medicine is a weird thing. Antibiotics weren't discovered until 1928, yet penicillin has been in use since the Ancient Egyptians. They had no idea what penicillin was or why or how it worked, but they would rub moldy bread on wounds because it seemed to help fight infections. This sort of trial and error was the basis of ancient medicine, and there were certainly upsides to the experimental nature. Unfortunately, once a consensus on what was happening was reached, future evidence was adapted to fit the existing theory. And even more unfortunate, for thousands of years until the end of the 19th century, the prevailing theory was miasma theory. This theory stated that diseases were caused by miasma, the Ancient Greek word for pollution. Basically, it was "bad air" that caused diseases. The main source of the disease bearing miasma was rotting organic life, be it plants or animals, and the terrible stench that was given off by the rotting materials was the warning that they bore disease. The good news is that other potential sources of miasma were things like contaminated water and unsanitary living conditions, so there was some benefit to trying to combat these. However, miasma theory posited that disease could not pass directly from one person to the next. Outbreaks of disease were attributed to powerful, localized miasma rather than person to person spread. However, there were a few dissenting voices from the ancient world who predicted something different. They believed that disease wasn't caused by the foul stench of death, that was just an unpleasant byproduct of the disease. Instead, diseases were caused by creatures so small that they couldn't be seen with the naked eye. The first such prediction came sometime between 1200 and 1000 BC from Ancient India. In the Artharva Veda, Rishi Kanva spoke of tiny, invisible creatures called Krimi that were the source of diseases. The Krimi were malevolent, demonic spirits of a supernatural origin, so quite a bit different than bacteria or viruses, but it was still a lot closer to reality than miasma theory was. Fast forward about a thousand years, and a few Romans and Greeks had moved to a similar theory based more in natural science than the supernatural. Some Ancient Greek physicians speculated about "seeds of disease" that might enter a person's body, inhaled through the air. Though it removed any mystic elements of disease, it saw disease as being spread by inert seeds rather than by living organisms. The most accurate prediction from ancient times came from Roman statesman and author Marcus Terentius Varro. In his Three Books on Agriculture from 36 BC, Marcus wrote, "Precautions must also be taken in the neighborhood of swamps... because there are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases." Especially given that the malodorous nature of swamps lined up with miasma theory, this was a remarkably accurate prediction for the time. Thanks to the abundance of low quality, stagnant water, swamps are often the perfect location for bacteria to breed. While swamps may be home to airborne bacteria, they are also breeding grounds to disease vectors like mosquitoes. Though these early predictions about the true nature of disease were far closer to the truth than the prevailing theory at the time, it would be well over a thousand years before germ theory would start to gain any real traction, and nearly 2,000 years before it would finally be proven true. ## The Big Bang Every religion has its own creation myth, and many religions have found ways to work the Big Bang Theory into their creation stories. This shouldn't come as a surprise, as the Big Bang Theory was first formalized by Father Georges Lemaître, a Roman Catholic priest and professor of theoretical physics from Belgium. How loosely the original texts had to be interpreted varied from religion to religion, but for Hindus nothing had to be changed at all. They had already predicted the Big Bang roughly 3,000 years earlier, sometime between 1500 and 1000 BC. According to the story in the Hindu Rig Veda, the entire universe was contained within the Hiranyagarbha, a tiny, cosmic egg that floated in an infinite void of non-existence. From this egg exploded the entire universe. While an egg is larger than the proposed singularity at the beginning of the universe, the idea is the same. However, the Hindu creation story is also cyclical in nature. The universe all expanded from a single point, and it will all collapse back in on itself to that single point again, reforming the Hiranyagarbha. According to the Rig Veda, this has happened multiple times already and will continue to happen, presumably for all eternity. If the second half of that sounds familiar, that's the basis of the Big Crunch, the theory that the universe will stop expanding, collapse back in on itself, and initiate another Big Bang. This theory has fallen out of favour in recent years as evidence shows that the expansion of the universe continues to accelerate in all directions rather than slowing down, making a Big Crunch less likely. If nothing else, we can at least say that the Rig Veda predicted the formalization of the Big Bang and Big Crunch theories. And who knows, maybe it really did accurately predict the true nature of our universe. The evidence currently suggests that the Big Crunch theory is not accurate, but unless you're going to wait around to personally witness the heat death of the universe, there's no way to disprove it for sure. ## Evolution Born in 610 BC, the Greek philosopher Anaximander of Miletus was a bit of a revolutionary. He transformed science by introducing the idea of questioning and rejecting what had already been deemed to be fact. It was like a primitive version of the scientific method, and unlike anything that had been seen at the time. He also was the first to suggest that the Earth was a free-floating object in the infinite vastness of space, not supported by anything. The previous theory was that Earth floated in "the immense ocean from which everything is born", though it is unclear what that theory suggested the ocean was floating in. While Anaximander's hypothesis was closer, he incorrectly believed Earth to be stationary "because of its indifference". But he was also the first to predict that the universe was infinite and ageless. While we know it isn't ageless, it is strongly believed by many to in fact be infinite. There were numerous other predictions about the cosmos and the universe, including Anaximander's proposition of a manner of multiverse, but perhaps his most famous work was on the origin of man. Anaximander was the first to propose a theory of evolution. Or at the very least he proposed that evolution had taken place; it's unclear if he believed it was still going on, nor if he suggested any sort of driving factor in evolution like natural selection. However, not only did he correctly predict that humans had descended from other animals, but that we came from fish. Of course, his view on how that happened is a bit different than how it went. Rather than slowly evolving from fish to amphibians to mammals, he seemed to be of the belief that land animals were born directly from fish or fishlike animals. The land animals would grow inside the fish like embryos until puberty, at which point the fishlike animals would burst open and fully developed animals could walk out of their carcasses. It sounds a little silly to us now, but his theory was based on the idea that, because humans remain helpless infants and toddlers that need to nurse from their mothers for such a long time, it would have been impossible for such creatures to survive in a harsh, primeval world in such a form. While that logic is certainly understandable, it's hard to say that the conclusion Anaximander drew from it is. Perhaps he explained it better in his own writing, but we'll unfortunately never know. Despite being such an important and influential figure, all of Anaximander's work was burned. Only a single fragment of his original writing remains, with everything we know of his work coming from the accounts of other ancient philosophers, scientists, and historians. But perhaps these grandiose predictions regarding natural science weren't what you expected when you clicked on this episode, and you were hoping for more specific predictions about future events like Vespasian becoming emperor. Luckily, Anaximander has you covered there too. According to Roman scholar, philosopher, and skeptic Cicero, Anaximander saved an entire city from devastation with just such a prediction. The story goes that Anaximander went to the city of Lacedaemon and convinced all the inhabitants to abandon their homes and spend a night out in the countryside because an earthquake was near. That night the prediction came true, and the entire city collapsed. It's unknown whether Anaximander knew anything about plate tectonics, if it was a lucky guess, or if it's just an apocryphal tale. And unless there is some long lost copy of his writings hidden away somewhere, it's unlikely that we'll ever know. ## Key Takeaways - Joseph ben Matthias predicted Vespasian's rise to power, saving his own life. - Leucippus and Democritus proposed the existence of atoms, a theory later proven. - Ancient Indian and Roman texts predicted germ theory, contrary to miasma beliefs. - The Rig Veda described a creation event similar to the Big Bang theory. - Anaximander of Miletus proposed early ideas of evolution and natural science. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Who was Joseph ben Matthias and what role did he play in the Jewish-Roman war? Joseph ben Matthias was a Jewish historian and military leader who served as the military governor of Galilee during the Jewish-Roman war. He led the defense against the Romans during the Siege of Yodfat in 67 AD but was eventually captured. ### What prophecy did Joseph ben Matthias tell Vespasian to save his life? Joseph ben Matthias told Vespasian of a prophecy that he would exit Judea and become ruler of the entire world, likely a bastardized version of the Star Prophecy. ### What was the outcome of Joseph ben Matthias' prophecy about Vespasian? About 18 months after Joseph ben Matthias made his prophecy, Vespasian became the emperor of Rome, and Joseph was released from prison and granted Roman citizenship. ### Who is credited with founding the theory of atomism? Leucippus is credited with founding the theory of atomism, which was later refined by his student, Democritus. ### What did Leucippus and Democritus propose about the nature of matter? Leucippus and Democritus proposed that everything in the world is made up of tiny, invisible particles called atoms, which are in a constant state of motion and can combine to create different objects. ### What was the prevailing theory of disease in ancient times? The prevailing theory of disease in ancient times was miasma theory, which stated that diseases were caused by 'bad air' or miasma from rotting organic matter. ### Who was the first to predict the existence of germs causing disease? Rishi Kanva in the Artharva Veda of Ancient India was the first to predict the existence of tiny, invisible creatures called Krimi that were the source of diseases. ### What did Marcus Terentius Varro predict about disease in his work? Marcus Terentius Varro predicted that there are certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and there cause serious diseases. ### What is the Hindu creation story that aligns with the Big Bang theory? The Hindu Rig Veda describes the entire universe as being contained within the Hiranyagarbha, a tiny, cosmic egg that floated in an infinite void of non-existence, from which the entire universe exploded. ### Who was Anaximander and what was his contribution to the theory of evolution? Anaximander was a Greek philosopher who proposed that humans had descended from other animals, specifically from fish, suggesting a form of evolution. ## Sources - [Original Side Projects video: 5 Ancient Predictions That Came True](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6PQgUVmGYU) ## Related Coverage