Fermat's principle (least time) predates Maupertuis' but it's not obvious it's basically the same thing. Interestingly Maupertuis was motivated by placing time

Fermat's principle (least time) predates Maupertuis' but it's not obvious it's basically the same thing. Interestingly Maupertuis was motivated by placing time and distance/space on the same footing, predating Einstein by several centuries.