I've only heard relatively recent (ex. mid-1800s onward) politics described as part of this spectrum. I'm interested in hearing where that concept comes from.
I'd also be interested in hearing whether people in the past, before the concepts of "left" and "right", thought of political positions in a similar way (as in, tied to specific political groups or to political platforms with other unrelated issues.)
hi! hopefully someone can drop by to address your secondary question, but as to the first, you'll find some brief explanations here:
Where did the term "Left" and "Right" come from in politics? - featuring u/molstern
Were the right-to-left seating arrangements at the Estates-General of 1789 by social rank or by ideology? - featuring u/molstern again, and u/graendallstud
How were the names "left" and "right" chosen to represent political ideologies? How did we decide who got to be called left and who got to be called right? - featuring u/fyijesuisunchat
if you have follow-up questions on locked posts, ask them here; page the relevant user by including their username