This chapter explores the transmission of the Socratic caesura—a conceptual break framing Socrates as the founder of civic, or polis-oriented, philosophy—through successive reinterpretations, from Plato’s original articulation to its reimagination in German scholarship of the late eighteenth century. Applying Fleck’s theory of thought styles and thought collectives, the chapter traces how this framing evolved across historical and cultural contexts, shaped by ideological struggles and institutional transformations. Beginning with Aristophanes’ Clouds and the charges brought at Socrates’ trial, the chapter examines early hostile representations that conflated naturalist, sophistic, and Socratic thought styles. It then turns to Plato’s Apology and Phaedo, where Socrates is redefined through a decisive rupture with naturalism and rhetoric. This caesura was reinforced and transformed by Xenophon, Aristotle, and Cicero, each adapting Socrates’ legacy to their own cultural frameworks. Cicero’s version integrated Greek philosophy with Roman ideals, casting Socrates as a model of practical wisdom and oratory in service of the Republic. The chapter concludes by tracing how the caesura became a vehicle for philosophical legitimation in early modern and modern Europe. From Cicero’s assimilation into Christian thought to Eberhard’s coinage of ‘Presocratic’ and Hegel’s institutionalization of philosophy in the Humboldtian university, the caesura was reactivated to consolidate disciplinary authority. Viewed through Fleck’s framework, the caesura emerges not as a neutral historical marker but as a long-range discursive strategy for elevating philosophy and marginalizing rival modes of knowledge.