215,950 profiles ranked

← Fame through time1000-1 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 coverage and readership agree.

  1. 1Aristotle384 BC-322 BC · Academics22 decades
  2. 2Plato428 BC-348 BC · Academics22 decades
  3. 3Confucius551 BC-479 BC · China · Academics12 decades
  4. 4Socrates470 BC-399 BC · Brazil · Academics22 decades
  5. 5Archimedes287 BC-212 BC · Academics22 decades
  6. 6Pythagoras582 BC-490 BC · Academics22 decades
  7. 7Laozi579 BC-500 BC · Academics11 decades
  8. 8Gautama Buddha500 BC-500 BC · Academics16 decades
  9. 9Euclid333 BC-285 BC · Academics22 decades
  10. 10Diogenes400 BC-323 BC · Turkey · Academicsnot measured-
  11. 11Aesop620 BC-564 BC · Academics21 decades
  12. 12Heraclitus535 BC-470 BC · Turkey · Academics22 decades
  13. 13Epicurus342 BC-270 BC · Academics22 decades
  14. 14Thales of Miletus625 BC-545 BC · Turkey · Academics22 decades
  15. 15Democritus460 BC-360 BC · Academics22 decades
  16. 16Xenophon430 BC-354 BC · Academics22 decades
  17. 17Eratosthenes276 BC-194 BC · Academics22 decades
  18. 18Zhuang Zhou369 BC-288 BC · China · Academics10 decades
  19. 19Strabo63 BC-23 · Academics22 decades
  20. 20Parmenides515 BC-470 BC · Italy · Academics22 decades
  21. 21Anaximander610 BC-546 BC · Turkey · Academics22 decades
  22. 22Empedocles494 BC-434 BC · Italy · Academics22 decades
  23. 23Zeno of Citium334 BC-263 BC · Academics3 decades
  24. 24Anaxagoras500 BC-428 BC · Turkey · Academics22 decades
  25. 25Zeno of Elea490 BC-425 BC · Italy · Academics11 decades
  26. 26Mencius372 BC-289 BC · Academics22 decades
  27. 27Aspasia470 BC-400 BC · Turkey · Academicsnot measured-
  28. 28Pāṇini520 BC-460 BC · Academicsnot measured-
  29. 29Theophrastus371 BC-287 BC · Academics22 decades
  30. 30Protagoras490 BC-420 BC · Academics22 decades
  31. 31Mozi470 BC-391 BC · Academics8 decades
  32. 32Chrysippus281 BC-208 BC · Turkey · Academics22 decades
  33. 33Xenophanes570 BC-478 BC · Turkey · Academics22 decades
  34. 34Marcus Terentius Varro116 BC-27 BC · Italy · Academics0 decades
  35. 35Xun Kuang313 BC-230 BC · Academics8 decades
  36. 36Gorgias483 BC-375 BC · Italy · Academics22 decades
  37. 37Antisthenes445 BC-365 BC · Academics22 decades
  38. 38Anaximenes of Miletus585 BC-525 BC · Turkey · Academics0 decades
  39. 39Leucippus500 BC-500 BC · Turkey · Academics22 decades
  40. 40Han Fei280 BC-233 BC · China · Academics10 decades
  41. 41Seneca the Elder54 BC-39 · Spain · Academics2 decades
  42. 42Pyrrho360 BC-270 BC · Academics22 decades
  43. 43Posidonius135 BC-51 BC · Academics22 decades
  44. 44Kapilaborn 550 BC · Academicsnot measured-
  45. 45Aristippus435 BC-355 BC · Academics22 decades
  46. 46Hippasus600 BC-500 BC · Italy · Academics12 decades
  47. 47Archytas430 BC-345 BC · Italy · Academics22 decades
  48. 48Periander700 BC-585 BC · Academics22 decades
  49. 49Diotima of Mantinea450 BC-300 BC · Academics0 decades
  50. 50Philolaus470 BC-390 BC · Italy · Academics22 decades
  51. 51Anacharsis700 BC-600 BC · Academicsnot measured-
  52. 52Crates of Thebes365 BC-285 BC · Academics0 decades
  53. 53Chilon of Sparta600 BC-520 BC · Academics0 decades
  54. 54Aristoxenus360 BC-300 BC · Academics22 decades
  55. 55Xenocrates396 BC-314 BC · Turkey · Academics22 decades
  56. 56Cleanthes331 BC-232 BC · Turkey · Academics22 decades
  57. 57Bias of Priene600 BC-530 BC · Turkey · Academics1 decades
  58. 58Epimenides of Crete700 BC-600 BC · Academics0 decades
  59. 59Carneades213 BC-129 BC · Academics22 decades
  60. 60Philodemus110 BC-35 BC · Academics22 decades
  61. 61Pherecydes of Syros580 BC-499 BC · Academics1 decades
  62. 62Cleobulus of Lindos630 BC-560 BC · Academics0 decades
  63. 63Thrasymachus459 BC-399 BC · Academics22 decades
  64. 64Pittacus of Mytilene650 BC-570 BC · Academics0 decades
  65. 65Hipparchia of Maroneia350 BC-280 BC · Academics0 decades
  66. 66Kanada200 BC-160 BC · India · Academics19 decades
  67. 67Philo of Byzantium280 BC-220 BC · Academics0 decades
  68. 68Euclid of Megara436 BC-365 BC · Academics1 decades
  69. 69Euhemerus400 BC-300 BC · Academics22 decades
  70. 70Heraclides Ponticus385 BC-322 BC · Turkey · Academics8 decades
  71. 71Panaetius185 BC-110 BC · Academics22 decades
  72. 72Melissus of Samos490 BC-430 BC · Academics0 decades
  73. 73Pingalaborn 150 BC · India · Academics14 decades
  74. 74Prodicus460 BC-380 BC · Academics22 decades
  75. 75Zengzi504 BC-435 BC · Academics8 decades
  76. 76Speusippus407 BC-339 BC · Academics22 decades
  77. 77Arcesilaus315 BC-240 BC · Turkey · Academicsnot measured-
  78. 78Hippocrates of Chios470 BC-410 BC · Academics2 decades
  79. 79Strato of Lampsacus335 BC-269 BC · Academics0 decades
  80. 80Antiochus of Ascalon130 BC-68 BC · Academics0 decades
  81. 81Mahapajapati Gotami600 BC-480 BC · Academics0 decades
  82. 82Hippias443 BC-399 BC · Academics22 decades
  83. 83Aenesidemus80 BC-10 BC · Academics4 decades
  84. 84Hegesias of Cyrene400 BC-300 BC · Academics0 decades
  85. 85Phaedo of Elis401 BC-400 BC · Academics0 decades
  86. 86Porcia100 BC-43 · Academics22 decades
  87. 87Sariputta568 BC-484 BC · India · Academics14 decades
  88. 88Yang Zhu369 BC-318 BC · Academics0 decades
  89. 89Maitreyi1000 BC-1000 BC · Academicsnot measured-
  90. 90Ajita Kesakambaliborn 500 BC · India · Academics0 decades
  91. 91Liu Xin50 BC-23 · Academicsnot measured-
  92. 92Zisi483 BC-402 BC · Academicsnot measured-
  93. 93Crates of Mallus200 BC-145 BC · Academics0 decades
  94. 94Cratylusborn 500 BC · Academics22 decades
  95. 95Menaechmus380 BC-320 BC · Academics19 decades
  96. 96Timon of Phlius320 BC-230 BC · Academics0 decades
  97. 97Andronicus of Rhodes100 BC-60 BC · Academics1 decades
  98. 98Zou Yan305 BC-240 BC · Academics0 decades
  99. 99Eudemus of Rhodes350 BC-290 BC · Academics0 decades
  100. 100Theodoros the Atheist340 BC-250 BC · Academicsnot 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.