Plato, Laws 676a

ταῦτα μὲν οὖν δὴ ταύτῃ· πολιτείας δὲ ἀρχὴν τίνα ποτὲ φῶμεν γεγονέναι; μῶν οὐκ ἐνθένδε τις ἂν αὐτὴν ῥᾷστά τε καὶ κάλλιστα κατίδοι; πόθεν; ὅθενπερ καὶ τὴν τῶν πόλεων ἐπίδοσιν εἰς ἀρετὴν μεταβαίνουσαν ἅμα καὶ κακίαν ἑκάστοτε θεατέον. λέγεις δὲ πόθεν; οἶμαι μὲν ἀπὸ χρόνου μήκους τε καὶ ἀπειρίας καὶ

So much for that, then! Now, what are we to say about the origin of government? Would not the best and easiest way of discerning it be from this standpoint? What standpoint? That from which one should always observe the progress of States as they move towards either goodness or badness. What point is that? The observation, as I suppose, of an infinitely long period of time