Claim profile
1000–1 BC

The 1st millennium BC

Whose working lives fell in the 1st millennium BC. 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 millennium BC, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇮🇹 Italy🇹🇷 Turkey🇨🇳 China🇮🇳 India🇪🇬 Egypt🇫🇷 France🇯🇵 Japan🇪🇸 Spain🇧🇷 Brazil🇩🇪 Germany
FieldAllPoliticiansHistorical FiguresWritersAcademicsModelsArtistsScientistsReligious FiguresDoctorsArchitects
  1. 1HerodotusHerodotus484 BC–425 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Writers22 decades
  2. 2DiogenesDiogenes400 BC–323 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academicsnot measured—
  3. 3Thales of MiletusThales of Miletus625 BC–545 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  4. 4HeraclitusHeraclitus535 BC–470 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  5. 5HesiodHesiodborn 776 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Writers22 decades
  6. 6AnaximanderAnaximander610 BC–546 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  7. 7AnaxagorasAnaxagoras500 BC–428 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  8. 8XenophanesXenophanes570 BC–478 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  9. 9Mithridates VI of PontusMithridates VI of Pontus134 BC–63 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey0 decades
  10. 10AspasiaAspasia470 BC–400 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academicsnot measured—
  11. 11ChrysippusChrysippus281 BC–208 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  12. 12Anaximenes of MiletusAnaximenes of Miletus585 BC–525 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics0 decades
  13. 13AnacreonAnacreon570 BC–485 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Writers22 decades
  14. 14ApellesApelles370 BC–306 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Artists22 decades
  15. 15Dionysius of HalicarnassusDionysius of Halicarnassus60 BC–7 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Writers22 decades
  16. 16HipparchusHipparchus190 BC–120 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Scientists22 decades
  17. 17LeucippusLeucippus500 BC–500 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  18. 18NabonidusNabonidus615 BC–538 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey19 decades
  19. 19Eudoxus of CnidusEudoxus of Cnidus408 BC–355 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Scientists0 decades
  20. 20CleanthesCleanthes331 BC–232 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  21. 21HOHecataeus of Miletus600 BC–475 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Writers1 decades
  22. 22Apollonius of PergaApollonius of Perga262 BC–190 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Scientists7 decades
  23. 23Artemisia I of CariaArtemisia I of Caria500 BC–500 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Politiciansnot measured—
  24. 24MausolusMausolus410 BC–353 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Historical Figures22 decades
  25. 25PSPublilius Syrus100 BC–100 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Writers8 decades
  26. 26XenocratesXenocrates396 BC–314 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics22 decades
  27. 27ArcesilausArcesilaus315 BC–240 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academicsnot measured—
  28. 28Bias of PrieneBias of Priene600 BC–530 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics1 decades
  29. 29EumenesEumenes362 BC–316 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkeynot measured—
  30. 30Ptolemy PhiladelphusPtolemy Philadelphusborn 36 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Politicians22 decades
  31. 31HerophilosHerophilos335 BC–280 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Doctors0 decades
  32. 32Heraclides PonticusHeraclides Ponticus385 BC–322 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Academics8 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.