As one who's gotten a Master's in Classics, I can say that my timeline for reference is about 3000 years, and more if I think about Egyptian papryri, and Indo-European Poetics. Most technical people have a timeline of only about 50 to 75 years, maximum, and it's quite a beneficial change of perspective.
This is a very good point. Reading old philosophers really open ones eyes to the things that have changed little in human culture throughout the centuries or even millenniums.
