215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1-99

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 coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Paul the Apostle5-66 · Turkey · Writers18 decades
  2. 2Nero37-68 · Italy · Writersnot measured-
  3. 3Pliny the Elder20-79 · Writers22 decades
  4. 4Tacitus55-120 · Writersnot measured-
  5. 5Josephus37-100 · Writers21 decades
  6. 6Pliny the Younger61-113 · Italy · Writers22 decades
  7. 7Juvenal55-200 · Italy · Writersnot measured-
  8. 8Martial40-104 · Spain · Writersnot measured-
  9. 9Petronius27-66 · Writersnot measured-
  10. 10Lucan39-65 · Writers22 decades
  11. 11Statius45-96 · Italy · Writersnot measured-
  12. 12Pomponius Mela15-100 · Spain · Writers22 decades
  13. 13Dio Chrysostom40-120 · Turkey · Writers22 decades
  14. 14Phaedrus20 BC-50 · Writers22 decades
  15. 15Persius34-62 · Writers22 decades
  16. 16Ban Zhao45-116 · Writers2 decades
  17. 17Marcus Velleius Paterculus19 BC-31 · Italy · Writers0 decades
  18. 18Sosthenesdied 100 · Writersnot measured-
  19. 19Apion20 BC-45 · Writersnot measured-
  20. 20Ban Gu32-92 · Writers9 decades
  21. 21Gaius Valerius Flaccus45-95 · Writers0 decades
  22. 22Philo of Byblos50-140 · Writers0 decades
  23. 23Xu Shen58-147 · Writers6 decades
  24. 24Columella4-70 · Spain · Writers22 decades
  25. 25Ban Biao3-54 · Writersnot measured-
  26. 26Lucilius Junior6-100 · Writers0 decades
  27. 27Trophimusborn 50 · Writersnot measured-
  28. 28Hyginus Mythographus50-300 · Writersnot measured-
  29. 29Mesomedes1-200 · Writers0 decades
  30. 30Pseudo-Apollodorus50-150 · Writers0 decades
  31. 31Asconius Pedianus9 BC-76 · Writers4 decades
  32. 32Mara Bar-Serapionborn 50 · Writers0 decades
  33. 33Caesius Bassus50-79 · Writers0 decades
  34. 34Justus of Tiberias35-100 · Writers5 decades
  35. 35Achaicus of Corinthdied 100 · Writersnot measured-
  36. 36Artemas of Lystradied 100 · Writersnot measured-
  37. 37Marcus Cluvius Rufus50-100 · Writers0 decades
  38. 38Masurius Sabinus15 BC-100 · Writers0 decades
  39. 39Apollonius the Sophist1-150 · Writers0 decades
  40. 40Nicarchusdied 100 · Writersnot measured-
  41. 41Claudia Severaborn 1 · Writers0 decades
  42. 42Clutorius Priscus20 BC-21 · Writers0 decades
  43. 43Curiatius Maternus50-100 · Writers0 decades
  44. 44Ch'in Chia1 BC-1 · Writers0 decades
  45. 45Lucius Arruntius Stellaborn 50 · Writers0 decades
  46. 46Bhatta Narayana8-9 · Writers0 decades
  47. 47Lucius Julius Graecinus39-100 · Writersnot measured-

How to read these rankings

  • Attention, not reputation. A place on these lists reflects the attention a person still draws in the public record. It is not a judgement on the life.
  • Fame in print. The curves show how often a name appeared in the books of each decade from 1800 to 2019, drawn from the Google Books Ngram corpus.
  • Gaps are left as gaps. Where the record is too thin to be fair, we would rather show nothing than guess.