Claim profile
200–299

The 3rd century

Whose working lives fell in the 3rd century. 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 3rd century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.

CountryAll🇨🇳 China🇮🇹 Italy🇪🇬 Egypt🇫🇷 France🇩🇪 Germany🇯🇵 Japan🇹🇷 Turkey🇪🇸 Spain🇦🇹 Austria
FieldAllPoliticiansWritersHistorical FiguresReligious FiguresAcademicsModelsActorsDoctorsMusiciansLawyers
  1. 1OrigenOrigen185–254 · 🇪🇬 Egypt · Academics22 decades
  2. 2PlotinusPlotinus205–270 · Academics22 decades
  3. 3AriusArius250–336 · Academics22 decades
  4. 4ManiMani216–274 · Academicsnot measured—
  5. 5PorphyryPorphyry233–301 · Academicsnot measured—
  6. 6Hippolytus of RomeHippolytus of Rome170–235 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Academics2 decades
  7. 7Julia DomnaJulia Domna165–217 · Academics22 decades
  8. 8Sun CeSun Ce175–200 · 🇨🇳 China · Academicsnot measured—
  9. 9Sextus EmpiricusSextus Empiricus200–300 · Academics22 decades
  10. 10DiophantusDiophantus200–284 · 🇪🇬 Egypt · Academics22 decades
  11. 11NNovatian220–258 · Academics22 decades
  12. 12CelsusCelsusborn 200 · Academicsnot measured—
  13. 13IamblichusIamblichus245–325 · Academics22 decades
  14. 14Alexandros of AphrodisiasAlexandros of Aphrodisias200–215 · Academicsnot measured—
  15. 15Zosimos of PanopolisZosimos of Panopolis250–350 · 🇪🇬 Egypt · Academics0 decades
  16. 16Liu HuiLiu Hui225–295 · Academics7 decades
  17. 17ASAmmonius Saccas175–250 · Academics9 decades
  18. 18Cassius LonginusCassius Longinus213–273 · Academics18 decades
  19. 19Wang SuWang Su195–256 · Academicsnot measured—
  20. 20Maximus of TyreMaximus of Tyre200–200 · Academics3 decades
  21. 21Diogenes of OenoandaDiogenes of Oenoanda200–200 · Academics0 decades
  22. 22NONumenius of Apamea200–200 · Academics0 decades
  23. 23Guo XiangGuo Xiang252–312 · Academics5 decades
  24. 24AAmelius200–300 · Academics19 decades
  25. 25AryadevaAryadeva200–250 · Academics6 decades
  26. 26Aristocles of MesseneAristocles of Messeneborn 200 · Academics0 decades
  27. 27Xiang XiuXiang Xiu250–275 · Academics0 decades
  28. 28OTOrigen the Pagan200–300 · Academics0 decades
  29. 29SOSopater of Apamea242–325 · Academics0 decades
  30. 30PPPomponius Porphyrion201–201 · Academics0 decades
  31. 31HHeracleon200–200 · Academics19 decades
  32. 32FFirmilian200–268 · Academicsnot measured—
  33. 33SOSporus of Nicaea240–300 · Academics0 decades
  34. 34PPieriusborn 201 · Academics11 decades
  35. 35Aedesius of AlexandriaAedesius of Alexandriadied 306 · Academicsnot measured—
  36. 36CTCronius the Pythagorean200–200 · Academicsnot measured—

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.