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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. 1Homer900 BC-800 BC · Writers22 decades
  2. 2Virgil70 BC-19 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  3. 3Herodotus484 BC-425 BC · Turkey · Writers22 decades
  4. 4Sophocles496 BC-406 BC · Writers22 decades
  5. 5Ovid43 BC-17 · Italy · Writers22 decades
  6. 6Sappho650 BC-570 BC · Writers22 decades
  7. 7Aeschylus525 BC-456 BC · Writers22 decades
  8. 8Thucydides460 BC-395 BC · Writers22 decades
  9. 9Euripides480 BC-406 BC · Writers22 decades
  10. 10Horace65 BC-8 BC · Italy · Writersnot measured-
  11. 11Hesiod776 BC-700 BC · Turkey · Writers22 decades
  12. 12Aristophanes445 BC-385 BC · Writers22 decades
  13. 13Sima Qian145 BC-86 BC · China · Writers9 decades
  14. 14Livy59 BC-17 · Italy · Writers22 decades
  15. 15Solon630 BC-560 BC · Writers22 decades
  16. 16Emperor Wu of Han156 BC-87 BC · Writers8 decades
  17. 17Polybius200 BC-120 BC · Writers22 decades
  18. 18Catullus84 BC-54 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  19. 19Lucretius94 BC-55 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  20. 20Qu Yuan343 BC-278 BC · China · Writers11 decades
  21. 21Pindar517 BC-437 BC · Writers22 decades
  22. 22Diodorus Siculus90 BC-20 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  23. 23Menander340 BC-290 BC · Writersnot measured-
  24. 24Plautus250 BC-184 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  25. 25Terence185 BC-159 BC · Writersnot measured-
  26. 26Sallust86 BC-35 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  27. 27Manethoborn 201 BC · Writers22 decades
  28. 28Dionysius of Halicarnassus60 BC-7 BC · Turkey · Writers22 decades
  29. 29Isocrates436 BC-338 BC · Writers22 decades
  30. 30Callimachus305 BC-240 BC · Writers22 decades
  31. 31Juba II52 BC-23 · Writers0 decades
  32. 32Apollonius of Rhodes295 BC-215 BC · Egypt · Writers8 decades
  33. 33Theocritus400 BC-260 BC · Writers22 decades
  34. 34Archilochus688 BC-645 BC · Writers22 decades
  35. 35Anacreon570 BC-485 BC · Turkey · Writers22 decades
  36. 36Hecataeus of Miletus600 BC-475 BC · Turkey · Writers1 decades
  37. 37Propertius47 BC-16 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  38. 38Simonides of Ceos556 BC-468 BC · Writers2 decades
  39. 39Ennius239 BC-169 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  40. 40Publilius Syrus100 BC-100 BC · Turkey · Writers8 decades
  41. 41Tibullus50 BC-15 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  42. 42Apollodorus of Athens180 BC-120 BC · Writers0 decades
  43. 43Arion700 BC-600 BC · Writersnot measured-
  44. 44Ctesias500 BC-400 BC · Writers22 decades
  45. 45Cornelius Nepos100 BC-25 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  46. 46Gaius Julius Hyginus64 BC-17 · Writers0 decades
  47. 47Berossus400 BC-300 BC · Writers16 decades
  48. 48Theognis of Megara570 BC-485 BC · Writers0 decades
  49. 49Valerius Maximus100 BC-100 · Writers22 decades
  50. 50Aratus315 BC-240 BC · Writersnot measured-
  51. 51Lysias445 BC-380 BC · Writers22 decades
  52. 52Craterus370 BC-321 BC · Writers22 decades
  53. 53Livius Andronicus280 BC-200 BC · Italy · Writers20 decades
  54. 54Alcmandied 601 BC · Writersnot measured-
  55. 55Alcaeus of Mytilene630 BC-560 BC · Writers0 decades
  56. 56Quintus Tullius Cicero102 BC-43 BC · Writers0 decades
  57. 57Titus Pomponius Atticus110 BC-32 BC · Writers1 decades
  58. 58Stesichorus630 BC-555 BC · Writers22 decades
  59. 59Callisthenes360 BC-327 BC · Writers22 decades
  60. 60Tyrtaeus700 BC-700 BC · Writers22 decades
  61. 61Nicolaus of Damascus64 BC-4 · Writers11 decades
  62. 62Corinna500 BC-500 BC · Writersnot measured-
  63. 63Sun Bin400 BC-316 BC · Writersnot measured-
  64. 64Bacchylides516 BC-451 BC · Writers22 decades
  65. 65Aulus Hirtius90 BC-43 BC · Writers0 decades
  66. 66Agathon445 BC-400 BC · Writers22 decades
  67. 67Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus100 BC-100 BC · Writers0 decades
  68. 68Dionysius Thrax170 BC-90 BC · Writers4 decades
  69. 69Antipater of Sidon200 BC-100 BC · Writers0 decades
  70. 70Aristarchus of Samothrace217 BC-144 BC · Writers0 decades
  71. 71Ibycus600 BC-600 BC · Writers22 decades
  72. 72Gargi Vachaknaviborn 700 BC · Writers0 decades
  73. 73Ephorus400 BC-330 BC · Writers22 decades
  74. 74Gaius Lucilius180 BC-102 BC · Italy · Writers0 decades
  75. 75Calpurnia76 BC-44 BC · Italy · Writers22 decades
  76. 76Gnaeus Naevius275 BC-201 BC · Italy · Writers0 decades
  77. 77Gaius Cornelius Gallus69 BC-26 BC · Writers0 decades
  78. 78Hellanicus of Mytilene490 BC-405 BC · Writers0 decades
  79. 79Quintus Fabius Pictor254 BC-201 BC · Writers0 decades
  80. 80Aristophanes of Byzantium257 BC-180 BC · Writers10 decades
  81. 81Jia Yi200 BC-168 BC · Writers6 decades
  82. 82Gaius Asinius Pollio75 BC-4 · Writers0 decades
  83. 83Sima Xiangru179 BC-117 BC · Writers3 decades
  84. 84Lycophron320 BC-280 BC · Writers22 decades
  85. 85Zenodotus330 BC-260 BC · Writers21 decades
  86. 86Diagoras of Melos450 BC-450 BC · Writers0 decades
  87. 87Hipponax600 BC-600 BC · Writers22 decades
  88. 88Timaeus345 BC-260 BC · Writersnot measured-
  89. 89Lucius Accius170 BC-84 BC · Writers0 decades
  90. 90Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus64 BC-8 · Writers0 decades
  91. 91Marcus Tullius Tiro103 BC-4 BC · Writers0 decades
  92. 92Bharata Muni1000 BC-1000 BC · Writers0 decades
  93. 93Lie Yukou450 BC-375 BC · Writersnot measured-
  94. 94Sulpiciaborn 100 BC · Writersnot measured-
  95. 95Erinna400 BC-400 BC · Writers20 decades
  96. 96Mimnermus670 BC-600 BC · Writers21 decades
  97. 97Meleager of Gadara150 BC-50 BC · Writers0 decades
  98. 98Menippus300 BC-260 BC · Writers22 decades
  99. 99Quintus Hortensius114 BC-50 BC · Writers2 decades
  100. 100Helvius Cinna85 BC-44 BC · Writers0 decades

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.