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. 1HippocratesHippocrates460 BC–370 BC · Doctors22 decades
  2. 2Alcmaeon of CrotonAlcmaeon of Croton600 BC–500 BC · Doctors0 decades
  3. 3AgnodiceAgnodice400 BC–360 BC · Doctors1 decades
  4. 4SuśrutaSuśruta600 BC–500 BC · Doctors0 decades
  5. 5HerophilosHerophilos335 BC–280 BC · 🇹🇷 Turkey · Doctors0 decades
  6. 6ErasistratusErasistratus305 BC–249 BC · Doctors22 decades
  7. 7NicanderNicander250 BC–170 BC · Doctorsnot measured—
  8. 8Asclepiades of BithyniaAsclepiades of Bithynia120 BC–40 BC · Doctors0 decades
  9. 9Antonius MusaAntonius Musa63 BC–14 · Doctors8 decades
  10. 10DemocedesDemocedes600 BC–500 BC · Doctors15 decades
  11. 11Metrodorus of ChiosMetrodorus of Chios500 BC–400 BC · Doctors0 decades
  12. 12PPraxagoras340 BC–300 BC · Doctorsnot measured—
  13. 13UdjahorresnetUdjahorresnetborn 600 BC · Doctors0 decades
  14. 14Philistion of LocriPhilistion of Locri400 BC–400 BC · Doctors0 decades
  15. 15Chunyu YiChunyu Yi205 BC–150 BC · Doctors0 decades
  16. 16AcronAcron499 BC–401 BC · Doctorsnot measured—
  17. 17Themison of LaodiceaThemison of Laodicea123 BC–43 BC · Doctors0 decades
  18. 18PPseudo-Marius100 BC–44 BC · Doctors0 decades
  19. 19EryximachusEryximachus448 BC–400 BC · Doctors12 decades
  20. 20PPolybus450 BC–400 BC · Doctors22 decades
  21. 21Sextius NigerSextius Niger50 BC–100 · Doctors0 decades
  22. 22Apollonios of KitionApollonios of Kition100 BC–100 BC · Doctors0 decades
  23. 23SOSerapion of Alexandria300 BC–200 BC · Doctors0 decades
  24. 24ATAspasia the Physicianborn 400 BC · Doctorsnot measured—
  25. 25HOHeraclides of Tarentum100 BC–100 BC · Doctors0 decades
  26. 26EEuphorbus100 BC–60 BC · Doctors18 decades
  27. 27BOBacchius of Tanagra300 BC–150 BC · Doctors0 decades
  28. 28AAcumenus500 BC–460 BC · Doctors0 decades
  29. 29EEuryphon480 BC–410 BC · Doctors0 decades
  30. 30TThessalusborn 450 BC · Doctorsnot measured—
  31. 31AAcesiasdied 300 BC · Doctors0 decades
  32. 32COChrysippus of Cnidosborn 380 BC · Doctors0 decades
  33. 33NONicias of Miletusborn 350 BC · Doctorsnot measured—
  34. 34MMnesitheus400 BC–400 BC · Doctors0 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.