The Ancient Era

Ancient era

Isaac

Patriarch and prophet, son of Abraham

Ancient era

Jesus of Nazareth

7 BCE – April 7, 1930 CE

Central figure of Christianity, revered by billions across two millennia

Ancient era

Gautama Buddha

563 BCE – 483 BCE

Founder of Buddhism whose teachings on suffering and liberation endure worldwide

Ancient era

Moses

1393 BCE – 1273 BCE

Prophet and lawgiver of the Abrahamic faiths who led the Exodus

Ancient era

Abraham

Patriarch and prophet revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Ancient era

King David

1040 BCE – 969 BCE

King of Israel and Judah

Ancient era

Mary, mother of Jesus

18 BCE – 48 CE

Mother of Jesus Christ

Ancient era

John the Baptist

6 BCE – 30 CE

1st-century Jewish itinerant preacher (Bible)

Ancient era

Paul the Apostle

5 CE – 66 CE

Early Christian apostle and missionary (c. AD 5 – c. 64/65)

Ancient era

Peter the Apostle

1 BCE – 65 CE

Apostle of Jesus Christ

Ancient era

Confucius

552 BCE – 479 BCE

Chinese philosopher whose ethics shaped East Asian civilization for 2,500 years

Ancient era

Laozi

604 BCE – c. 500 BCE

6th-century BC semi-legendary Chinese philosopher, founder of Taoism

Ancient era

Zoroaster

628 BCE – 551 BCE

Founder of Zoroastrianism

Ancient era

Augustine of Hippo

November 13, 354 CE – August 28, 430 CE

Christian theologian, philosopher, and saint (354–430)

Ancient era

Hammurabi

1810 BCE – 1750 BCE

Babylonian king whose code is among the oldest written laws

Ancient era

Sargon of Akkad

c. 2350 BCE – c. 2300 BCE

Founder of the Akkadian Empire

Ancient era

Nebuchadnezzar II

642 BCE – 561 BCE

King of Babylon

Ancient era

Hatshepsut

1507 BCE – 1458 BCE

5th Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (c. 1479 BC - 1458 BC)

Ancient era

Thutmose III

1481 BCE – 1425 BCE

Sixth Egyptian Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty

Ancient era

Akhenaten

c. 1400 BCE – 1336 BCE

Egyptian pharaoh in 18th Dynasty

Ancient era

Tutankhamun

1343 BCE – 1324 BCE

14th century BCE (18th dynasty) Egyptian pharaoh

Ancient era

Ramesses II

1303 BCE – 1213 BCE

Egypt's greatest pharaoh, builder of Abu Simbel

Ancient era

Cyrus the Great

600 BCE – 530 BCE

Founder of the Achaemenid Empire (559–529 BC)

Ancient era

Darius I

550 BCE – 486 BCE

The fourth and greatest Achaemenid emperor (522–486 BC)

Ancient era

Xerxes I

519 BCE – 465 BCE

Fifth Achaemenid emperor (486–465 BC)

Ancient era

Themistocles

524 BCE – 459 BCE

Athenian politician and general (c. 524–459 BC)

Ancient era

Pericles

494 BCE – 429 BCE

Athenian statesman, orator and general (c. 495 – 429 BC)

Ancient era

Demosthenes

384 BCE – 322 BCE

Classical Athenian statesman and orator (384–322 BC)

Ancient era

Herodotus

484 BCE – 425 BCE

Greek historian and geographer (c.484–c.425 BC)

Ancient era

Thucydides

c. 460 BCE – 395 BCE

5th-century BC Athenian historian and general

Ancient era

Socrates

470 BCE – 399 BCE

Athenian philosopher whose questioning method founded Western ethics

Ancient era

Plato

427 BCE – 347 BCE

Athenian philosopher, founder of the Academy and author of the Republic

Ancient era

Aristotle

384 BCE – 322 BCE

Greek philosopher and polymath, tutor of Alexander, father of formal logic

Ancient era

Diogenes of Sinope

412 BCE – 323 BCE

4th-century BC Greek Cynic philosopher

Ancient era

Epicurus

342 BCE – 270 BCE

Ancient Greek philosopher

Ancient era

Zeno of Citium

334 BCE – 263 BCE

Greek philosopher, founder of Stoicism

Ancient era

Thales of Miletus

c. 650 BCE – 548 BCE

Ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician

Ancient era

Pythagoras

c. 550 BCE – c. 490 BCE

Greek mathematician and mystic of number and harmony

Ancient era

Heraclitus

535 BCE – c. 470 BCE

Greek philosopher (late 6th/early 5th-century BC)

Ancient era

Democritus

c. 460 BCE – c. 360 BCE

Greek philosopher (c. 460–c. 370 BC)

Ancient era

Hippocrates

460 BCE – 370 BCE

Greek physician called the father of medicine

Ancient era

Euclid

b. c. 333 BCE

Ancient Greek mathematician (fl. 300 BC)

Ancient era

Archimedes

287 BCE – 212 BCE

Greatest mathematician of antiquity, pioneer of mechanics and hydrostatics

Ancient era

Eratosthenes

276 BCE – 194 BCE

Greek mathematician, geographer, poet, astronomer, librarian and music theorist

Ancient era

Claudius Ptolemy

100 CE – 170 CE

2nd-century Roman mathematician, astronomer, geographer

Ancient era

Galen

c. 200 CE – c. 300 CE

2nd-century Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher

Ancient era

Hypatia

360 CE – 415 CE

Alexandrian mathematician and philosopher, martyr of ancient learning

Ancient era

Philip II of Macedon

c. 385 BCE – 336 BCE

King of Macedon from 359 to 336 BC

Ancient era

Alexander the Great

356 BCE – 323 BCE

Macedonian king who built an empire from Greece to India by age 30

Ancient era

Ptolemy I Soter

c. 365 BCE – c. 285 BCE

Macedonian general, ruler of Egypt

Ancient era

Hannibal

247 BCE – 183 BCE

Carthaginian general (247–183/181 BC)

Ancient era

Scipio Africanus

235 BCE – 183 BCE

Roman general and politician (236/235–183 BC)

Ancient era

Gaius Marius

157 BCE – 86 BCE

Roman general, statesman and military reformer (157-86 BC)

Ancient era

Sulla

138 BCE – 78 BCE

Roman dictator and general

Ancient era

Spartacus

103 BCE – 71 BCE

Thracian gladiator who led a slave uprising against the Roman Republic

Ancient era

Cicero

106 BCE – 43 BCE

Roman statesman, lawyer, orator, and philosopher (106–43 BC)

Ancient era

Julius Caesar

100 BCE – 44 BCE

Roman general and statesman whose rise ended the Republic

Ancient era

Pompey the Great

106 BCE – 48 BCE

Roman general and statesman (106–48 BC)

Ancient era

Marcus Junius Brutus

85 BCE – 42 BCE

Assassin of Julius Caesar

Ancient era

Mark Antony

83 BCE – 30 BCE

Roman politician and general (83 BC – 30 BC)