Abstract: This article is about the practice of dividing historical and literary-historical time into units of 100 years, with a particular focus on the semantics of the French term "siècle". It examines how in the course of what we now call the seventeenth century the term "siècle" shifted in meaning from "age" or "epoch" to the round number 100. It contextualizes the shift with reference to the great Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns, while also reflecting on the implications and consequences of a counterfactual alternative to modern historical chronology.

Key words: periodization, century, "siècle", narrative