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← 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. 1Leonidas Idied 480 BC · Models0 decades
  2. 2Emperor Gaozu of Han256 BC-195 BC · China · Models0 decades
  3. 3Tomyris600 BC-600 BC · Models14 decades
  4. 4Ahab918 BC-852 BC · Models22 decades
  5. 5Jehoiakim634 BC-598 BC · Models22 decades
  6. 6Qin Er Shi230 BC-207 BC · China · Models2 decades
  7. 7Jeconiah616 BC-597 BC · Models17 decades
  8. 8Bimbisara558 BC-491 BC · Models14 decades
  9. 9Ajatashatru500 BC-460 BC · Models2 decades
  10. 10Deioces705 BC-675 BC · Models13 decades
  11. 11Phryne371 BC-310 BC · Models22 decades
  12. 12Gyges of Lydiadied 652 BC · Models0 decades
  13. 13Menelik I1000 BC-1000 BC · Ethiopia · Models0 decades
  14. 14Dasaratha Maurya252 BC-224 BC · Modelsnot measured-
  15. 15Cleomenes I600 BC-490 BC · Models0 decades
  16. 16Empress Lü Zhi241 BC-180 BC · China · Modelsnot measured-
  17. 17Emperor Jing of Han188 BC-141 BC · China · Models0 decades
  18. 18Archidamus II450 BC-420 BC · Models0 decades
  19. 19Pleistarchus500 BC-458 BC · Models2 decades
  20. 20Brihadratha Maurya252 BC-180 BC · Models0 decades
  21. 21Cleomenes III260 BC-219 BC · Models0 decades
  22. 22Cassivellaunus100 BC-30 BC · Models17 decades
  23. 23Sampratidied 215 BC · Modelsnot measured-
  24. 24Mahapadma Nanda400 BC-329 BC · Models0 decades
  25. 25Yuri38 BC-18 · Modelsnot measured-
Show 43 more

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.