Claim profile
1–99

The 1st century

Whose working lives fell in the 1st century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.

Lived then

The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 1st century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇮🇹 Italy🇮🇱 Israel🇹🇷 Turkey🇪🇸 Spain🇩🇪 Germany🇫🇷 France🇪🇬 Egypt🇨🇳 China🇰🇷 South Korea🇺🇸 United States
FieldAllPoliticiansHistorical FiguresReligious FiguresWritersAcademicsDoctorsScientistsModelsBusiness ProfessionalsArchitects
  1. 1Seneca the YoungerSeneca the Younger4 BC–65 · Academics2 decades
  2. 2Mary MagdaleneMary Magdalenedied 100 · 🇮🇱 Israel · Academics22 decades
  3. 3PlutarchPlutarch40–120 · Academics22 decades
  4. 4EpictetusEpictetus50–138 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  5. 5Hero of AlexandriaHero of Alexandria10–75 · 🇪🇬 Egypt · Academics19 decades
  6. 6PhiloPhilo15 BC–50 · 🇪🇬 Egypt · Academicsnot measured—
  7. 7Ignatius of AntiochIgnatius of Antioch35–108 · Academics18 decades
  8. 8Apollonius of TyanaApollonius of Tyana15–100 · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  9. 9Rabbi AkivaRabbi Akiva50–135 · Academics5 decades
  10. 10GMGaius Musonius Rufus25–95 · Academics0 decades
  11. 11Zhang DaolingZhang Daoling34–156 · Academicsnot measured—
  12. 12NicomachusNicomachus60–120 · Academicsnot measured—
  13. 13LALucius Annaeus Cornutus10–80 · Academics0 decades
  14. 14GOGeminus of Rhodos10 BC–60 · Academicsnot measured—
  15. 15HPHelvidius Priscus50–75 · Academics11 decades
  16. 16COChaeremon of Alexandria10–90 · Academics0 decades
  17. 17ARArulenus Rusticus35–93 · Academics3 decades
  18. 18OnasanderOnasanderdied 100 · Academics0 decades
  19. 19PFPapirius Fabianusdied 50 · Academics0 decades
  20. 20AOAmmonius of Athens50–100 · Academicsnot measured—
  21. 21MOModeratus of Gades50–100 · Academics0 decades
  22. 22ETEuphrates the Stoic35–118 · Academics0 decades
  23. 23Xenarchus of SeleuciaXenarchus of Seleuciadied 18 · Academics0 decades
  24. 24HSHerennius Senecio50–93 · Academics1 decades
  25. 25QLQuintus Lucilius Balbus1 BC–100 · Academics0 decades
  26. 26DDamis1–101 · Academics22 decades

How this is measured

  • Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
  • Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
  • Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
  • What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.