History can appear cyclical because memes/ narratives repeat themselves: barbarians at the gate, exploitative elites, golden ages, wonder technologies. However, nothing in the actual data shows cyclicality: not innovation (Kuhn disproven), not political instability, not militarism, not nationalism nor expansionism. Some drivers have tended to produce common outcomes: urbanisation rapid increases in wealth disparities, famines and plagues. But those are just social symptomology, not cycles.