“To each person his own history” La Mothe le Vayer and Naudé, between Epicurus and Machiavelli

Between Naudé and La Mothe Le Vayer, two conceptions of history – the one rationalist and the other sceptical – seem be opposed to each other. What is basically at stake is the notion of “historicity”. Naudé, faithful to Machiavelli, adheres to a conception of history as cyclic (or repetitive) and therefore predictable, whereas La Mothe Le Vayer, as an Epicurean, leaves a large space to chance in the occurrence of events. Nevertheless, perhaps we might envisage a reconciliation between these two authors.