wing of the archive
The Ancient Era
Founders of faiths, first philosophers, and empire builders, from the earliest records to the fall of Rome.
Ancient era
Arminius
17 BCE – 21 CE
1st century chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe, defeated the Romans in 9 AD
Ancient era
Josephus
37 CE – 100 CE
Roman–Jewish historian and military leader (c. 37–c. 100)
Ancient era
Livy
59 BCE – 17 CE
Roman historian (59 BC – AD 17)
Ancient era
Tacitus
56 CE – 120 CE
Roman historian and senator (c. 56 – c. 120)
Ancient era
Suetonius
70 CE – 126 CE
Late 1st/early 2nd-century Roman historian
Ancient era
Pliny the Elder
c. 20 CE – 79 CE
Roman military commander and writer (AD23/24–79)
Ancient era
Vitruvius
80 BCE – 15 BCE
Roman architect and engineer
Ancient era
Lucretius
94 BCE – 55 BCE
1st-century BC Roman poet and philosopher
Ancient era
Catullus
84 BCE – 54 BCE
Lyric Latin poet of the Roman Republic
Ancient era
Marcus Agrippa
63 BCE – 12 BCE
Ancient Roman statesman and general
Ancient era
Livia Drusilla
59 BCE – 29 CE
First Roman empress as consort to Augustus, as well as mother of emperor Tiberius
Ancient era
Germanicus
15 BCE – October 10, 1919 CE
Nephew and adopted son of emperor Tiberius, heir apparent of the Roman Empire, and father of emperor Caligula
Ancient era
Agrippina the Younger
November 6, 1915 CE – March 17, 1959 CE
Roman empress and member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty (AD 15–59)
Ancient era
Tiberius
42 BCE – March 16, 1937 CE
Second Roman Emperor from 14 to 37 AD
Ancient era
Vespasian
November 17, 1909 CE – June 4, 1979 CE
Ninth Roman Emperor and founder of the Flavian dynasty (69–79)
Ancient era
Titus
41 CE – September 13, 1981 CE
Tenth Roman Emperor (79–81)
Ancient era
Domitian
October 24, 1951 CE – September 18, 1996 CE
11th Roman Emperor (81–96)
Ancient era
Marcus Licinius Crassus
115 BCE – 53 BCE
Member of the First Triumvirate
Ancient era
Cato the Elder
234 BCE – 149 BCE
Roman politician, soldier and writer (234–149 BC)
Ancient era
Septimius Severus
146 CE – February 4, 211 CE
Roman emperor from 193 to 211
Ancient era
Julian the Apostate
November 17, 331 CE – June 26, 363 CE
Last Pagan Roman emperor, reigned 361 to 363
Ancient era
Theodosius I
January 11, 347 CE – January 17, 395 CE
Roman emperor from 379 to 395
Ancient era
Alaric I
c. 400 CE – 410 CE
King of the Visigoths
Ancient era
Kanishka
78 CE – 144 CE
The fourth and greatest Kushan emperor (127–150)
Ancient era
Chandragupta II
c. 400 CE – c. 500 CE
Ruler of Gupta Empire from c. 375 to c. 415
Ancient era
Samudragupta
335 CE – 380 CE
4th-century ruler of the Gupta Empire
Ancient era
Charaka
b. c. 50 CE
Indian physician and academic
Ancient era
Sushruta
600 BCE – 500 BCE
Ancient Indian physician, father of surgery
Ancient era
Qu Yuan
343 BCE – 278 BCE
Chinese poet and politician (c.340–278 BC)
Ancient era
Cai Lun
48 CE – 121 CE
Chinese official credited with inventing paper (died 121)
Ancient era
Zhang Heng
78 CE – 139 CE
Chinese scientist and statesman (78–139)
Ancient era
Ban Zhao
45 CE – 116 CE
Late 1st/early 2nd century Chinese historian, philosopher and scholar
Ancient era
Hua Tuo
c. 200 CE – 208 CE
Chinese physician (c. 140–208)
Ancient era
Guan Yu
162 CE – 220 CE
Chinese general serving warlord Liu Bei (160-220)
Ancient era
Sun Quan
182 CE – 252 CE
Emperor of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period
Ancient era
Pindar
522 BCE – c. 450 BCE
5th-century BC Greek lyric poet
Ancient era
Hesiod
776 BCE – c. 700 BCE
Ancient Greek poet of the archaic period
Ancient era
Polybius
200 BCE – 120 BCE
Ancient Greek historian
Ancient era
Herod the Great
74 BCE – 4 BCE
King of Judea from 37/6 BCE to 4/1 BCE
Ancient era
Pontius Pilate
b. 12 BCE
Fifth Prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, from AD 26–36
Ancient era
Nefertari
1290 BCE – 1255 BCE
Ancient Egyptian queen consort