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. 1Anthony the GreatAnthony the Great251–357 · 🇪🇬 Egypt · Writers0 decades
  2. 2Diogenes LaërtiusDiogenes Laërtius180–240 · Writers7 decades
  3. 3LactantiusLactantius240–320 · Writers22 decades
  4. 4UlpianUlpian170–228 · Writers22 decades
  5. 5Cao PiCao Pi187–226 · 🇨🇳 China · Writers2 decades
  6. 6Lady SunLady Sunborn 192 · Writers6 decades
  7. 7AAthenaeus170–223 · Writers22 decades
  8. 8Ruan JiRuan Ji210–263 · Writers6 decades
  9. 9Claudius AelianusClaudius Aelianus200–235 · 🇮🇹 Italy · Writers0 decades
  10. 10WCWang Can177–217 · Writers0 decades
  11. 11PPhilostratus170–250 · Writersnot measured—
  12. 12HerodianHerodian170–250 · Writers22 decades
  13. 13Huangfu MiHuangfu Mi215–282 · Writersnot measured—
  14. 14LongusLongus200–200 · Writersnot measured—
  15. 15AArtemidorus200–200 · Writersnot measured—
  16. 16Hosius of CordubaHosius of Corduba256–357 · Writers0 decades
  17. 17Gregory ThaumaturgusGregory Thaumaturgus213–270 · Writers16 decades
  18. 18Heliodorus of EmesaHeliodorus of Emesa250–400 · Writers0 decades
  19. 19ZSZuo Si250–305 · Writers0 decades
  20. 20Pope Dionysius of AlexandriaPope Dionysius of Alexandria190–264 · Writersnot measured—
  21. 21MMMarcus Minucius Felix200–260 · Writers0 decades
  22. 22ArnobiusArnobius255–327 · Writersnot measured—
  23. 23Deng ZhiDeng Zhi178–251 · Writers0 decades
  24. 24Achilles TatiusAchilles Tatius200–300 · Writers22 decades
  25. 25POPhilostratus of Lemnos190–230 · Writers0 decades
  26. 26DexippusDexippus210–278 · Writersnot measured—
  27. 27XGXu Gan170–218 · Writersnot measured—
  28. 28POPhlegon of Tralles200–200 · Writers0 decades
  29. 29Zhang HuaZhang Hua232–300 · Writers5 decades
  30. 30JPJulius Pollux200–238 · Writers10 decades
  31. 31DDharmarakṣa233–310 · Writers0 decades
  32. 32Wang RongWang Rong234–305 · Writers0 decades
  33. 33CCensorinus250–250 · Writersnot measured—
  34. 34Victorinus of PettauVictorinus of Pettau250–303 · Writers0 decades
  35. 35Cai YanCai Yan177–249 · 🇨🇳 China · Writersnot measured—
  36. 36GBGan Bao201–336 · Writersnot measured—
  37. 37ZFZuo Fen255–300 · Writersnot measured—
  38. 38FXFu Xuan217–278 · Writersnot measured—
  39. 39AAlciphron200–200 · Writers22 decades
  40. 40NNemesianus200–300 · Writers10 decades
  41. 41CSChen Shou233–297 · Writers7 decades
  42. 42BBhāsa200–300 · Writers0 decades
  43. 43SSSerenus Sammonicus200–212 · Writers1 decades
  44. 44DODionysius of Byzantiumborn 200 · Writers0 decades
  45. 45OOOppian of Apameaborn 250 · Writers0 decades
  46. 46AHAelius Herodianus180–250 · Writers0 decades
  47. 47Apollinaris ClaudiusApollinaris Claudius200–200 · Writers0 decades
  48. 48SOStraton of Sardis200–300 · Writers0 decades
  49. 49XZXi Zheng250–278 · Writers0 decades
  50. 50Pontius of CarthagePontius of Carthagedied 300 · Writers0 decades
  51. 51Lu YunLu Yun262–303 · Writers1 decades
  52. 52FSFei Shidied 240 · Writers0 decades
  53. 53KZKan Zedied 243 · Writers0 decades
  54. 54Publilius Optatianus PorfyriusPublilius Optatianus Porfyrius250–330 · Writers0 decades
  55. 55XZXue Zongdied 243 · Writers0 decades
  56. 56LJLu Jing250–280 · Writers0 decades
  57. 57Ilango AdigalIlango Adigalborn 200 · Writers0 decades
  58. 58GAGaius Asinius Quadratusborn 200 · Writersnot measured—
  59. 59LXLuo Xian218–270 · Writers0 decades
  60. 60XXXin Xianying191–269 · Writersnot measured—
  61. 61SeleucusSeleucus200–220 · Writersnot measured—
  62. 62WHWei Huacun252–334 · Writersnot measured—
  63. 63CCaius200–300 · Writersnot measured—
  64. 64CBCheng Bing172–225 · Writers0 decades
  65. 65JVJulius Valerius Alexander Polemius250–400 · Writers0 decades
  66. 66Fei YiFei Yi250–253 · Writers0 decades
  67. 67PAPhrynichus Arabius200–200 · Writers0 decades
  68. 68Wei BoyangWei Boyangborn 190 · Writers0 decades
  69. 69GHGuo Huai187–255 · Writers0 decades
  70. 70MFMaecia Faustina201–300 · Writers0 decades
  71. 71RReticius250–334 · Writers0 decades
  72. 72HGHosidius Geta200–300 · Writers0 decades
  73. 73Liu LingLiu Ling221–300 · Writers2 decades
  74. 74POPhileas of Thmuis250–307 · Writers0 decades
  75. 75PIPrincess Iwa250–347 · 🇯🇵 Japan · Writers0 decades
  76. 76RReposianus250–350 · Writers0 decades
  77. 77HAHelenius Acronborn 250 · Writers0 decades
  78. 78Publius Annius FlorusPublius Annius Florus200–200 · Writers0 decades
  79. 79Nestor of LarandaNestor of Laranda200–300 · Writers0 decades
  80. 80XCXie Cheng182–254 · Writers0 decades
  81. 81SBSima Biao245–306 · Writers0 decades
  82. 82He YiHe Yiborn 200 · Writers1 decades
  83. 83FelicityFelicity200–203 · Writersnot measured—
  84. 84MPMarius Plotius Sacerdos200–399 · Writers0 decades
  85. 85ETEphorus the Youngerdied 300 · Writersnot measured—
  86. 86ARAquila Romanus200–250 · Writers0 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.