antecessio, ōnis, f. antecedo. A going before, preceding: quae in orbibus conversiones antecessionesque eveniunt, Cic. Tim. 10.

— That which goes before, the antecedent cause, as opp. to the final cause (perh. only in Cic.): homo causas rerum videt earumque progressus et quasi antecessiones non ignorat, and understands their course forwards and backwards, i. e. can reason from cause to effect and from effect to cause, Cic. Off. 1, 4, 11: consecutio, antecessio, repugnantia, id. Top. 13.