Writers of the Ancient World
The atlas holds 32 people and 482 moments here, from 620 BC to 430. The most recorded lives are Cicero, Julius Caesar and Paul the Apostle.
Notable people
Aeschylus
from 525 BC to 456 BC
6 moments here
Ancient Greek tragedian and soldier, born at Eleusis in Attica and active in the Persian Wars.…
Aesop
from 620 BC to 564 BC
2 moments here
Greek fabulist and storyteller traditionally credited with Aesop’s Fables. His historical existence and biography are uncertain; this atlas records…
Aristophanes
from 446 BC to 424 BC
2 moments here
Athenian comic playwright of Old Comedy. The surviving biographical record is unusually sparse: reliable evidence securely places him in Athens at…
Augustine of Hippo
from 354 to 430
26 moments here
Aurelius Augustinus, known as Augustine of Hippo, was a North African rhetorician, Christian theologian, philosopher, priest, and bishop.…
Cicero
from 106 BC to 43 BC
83 moments here
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) was a Roman lawyer, orator, philosopher, consul, provincial governor, and defender of the late Republic.…
Confucius
from 551 BC to 479 BC
23 moments here
Confucius, born Kong Qiu, was a teacher, political thinker, and sometime official of the Chinese state of Lu.…
Epicurus
from 341 BC to 270 BC
7 moments here
Ancient Greek philosopher and founder of Epicureanism. The securely documented outline of his movements runs from his birth and upbringing on Samos…
Euclid
in 300 BC
1 moment here
Ancient Greek mathematician and geometer, conventionally known as Euclid of Alexandria. Biographical evidence is exceptionally sparse: his birthplace…
Euripides
from 480 BC to 406 BC
6 moments here
Euripides was an Athenian tragic playwright traditionally born on Salamis around 480 BC and conventionally said to have died in Macedon around 406…
Hadrian
from 76 to 138
18 moments here
Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian traveled extensively through the Roman Empire, inspecting frontiers and armies, intervening in provincial…
Hannibal
from 247 BC to 183 BC
43 moments here
Hannibal Barca was a Carthaginian general and statesman best known for leading an army from Iberia across the Alps into Italy during the Second Punic…
Heraclitus
in 500 BC
2 moments here
Heraclitus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher associated with Ephesus in Ionia, active around 500 BC.…
Horace
from 65 BC to 8 BC
15 moments here
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, known as Horace, was a Roman lyric poet, satirist, and former republican military tribune.…
Hypatia
from 370 to 415
5 moments here
Hypatia was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, and teacher. Her birth is disputed, with estimates ranging from about 350 to…
Julius Caesar
from 100 BC to 44 BC
50 moments here
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman politician, general, orator and author whose career spanned the late Roman Republic.…
Marcus Aurelius
from 121 to 180
18 moments here
Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and Stoic philosopher. This chronology records securely attested physical presence from his birth and Roman residences…
Nero
from 37 to 68
19 moments here
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was Roman emperor from 13 October 54 to 9 June 68. This chronology records securely documented physical…
Ovid
from 43 BC to 17
9 moments here
Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) was a Roman poet born at Sulmo. Educated in Rome, he later travelled in Greece, Asia Minor, and Sicily, though the…
Paul the Apostle
from 5 to 64
45 moments here
Paul (Saul of Tarsus) was a first-century Jewish Christian apostle and missionary. The chronology below follows the traditional reconstruction used…
Plato
from 428 BC to 347 BC
18 moments here
Ancient Greek philosopher of Classical Athens, student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle, and founder of the Academy.…
Plutarch
from 66 to 95
4 moments here
Greek Platonist philosopher, biographer, essayist, magistrate, and Delphic priest. He was born at Chaeronea between 45 and 47 CE and died after 119…
Ptolemy
from 127 to 141
2 moments here
Claudius Ptolemy was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and music theorist.…
Pythagoras
from 570 BC to 490 BC
5 moments here
Ancient Greek philosopher and founder of the Pythagorean way of life. The surviving evidence for his biography is sparse and often contradictory;…
Sappho
in 600 BC
2 moments here
Archaic Greek lyric poet from Lesbos, active from the late seventh into the early sixth century BC.…
Moments
- 620 BC Traditional birth at Mesembria Aesop
- 600 BC Departure from Mytilene into exile Sappho
- 600 BC Exile in Sicily Sappho
- 570 BC Birth and early years on Samos Pythagoras
- 564 BC Death at Delphi Aesop
- 563 BC Born at Lumbini The Buddha
- 563 BC Grew up at Kapilavastu The Buddha
- 551 BC Born in Zou Confucius
- 544 BC Traditional birth in Qi Sun Tzu
- 534 BC Begged for alms at Rajagaha The Buddha
- 534 BC Departed Kapilavastu as an ascetic The Buddha
- 530 BC Emigration to Croton Pythagoras
- 528 BC Awakened beneath the Bodhi tree The Buddha
- 528 BC Delivered the first sermon at Sarnath The Buddha
- 528 BC Spent the first rains retreat at Sarnath The Buddha
- 527 BC Established retreats at Veluvana The Buddha
- 525 BC Birth at Eleusis Aeschylus
- 525 BC Visits the ruler of Tan Confucius
- 524 BC Kept the fifth retreat near Vesali The Buddha
- 522 BC Answers Duke Jing in Lu Confucius
- 520 BC Spent the ninth retreat at Kosambi The Buddha
- 517 BC Seeks service in Qi Confucius
- 516 BC Returns to Lu Confucius
- 515 BC Kept the fourteenth retreat at Jetavana The Buddha
- 514 BC Returned to Kapilavastu for the fifteenth retreat The Buddha
- 510 BC Departure from Croton amid anti-Pythagorean violence Pythagoras
- 510 BC Flight to Metapontum Pythagoras
- 509 BC Returned to Rajagaha for the twentieth retreat The Buddha
- 508 BC Began the long Savatthi residence cycle The Buddha
- 501 BC Governs Zhongdu Confucius
- 500 BC Represents Lu at Jiagu Confucius
- 500 BC Active philosopher of Ephesus Heraclitus
- 500 BC Deposited his book at the Artemision Heraclitus
- 497 BC Departs Lu for exile Confucius
- 497 BC Lives in Wei Confucius
- 496 BC Passes through Pu Confucius
- 496 BC Stays with Qu Boyu in Wei Confucius
- 496 BC Surrounded at Kuang Confucius
- 496 BC Traditional death at Gusu Sun Tzu
- 495 BC Arrives and lodges in Chen Confucius
- 495 BC Passes through Cao Confucius
- 495 BC Passes through Zheng Confucius
- 494 BC Leaves Pu for Wei Confucius
- 494 BC Remains in Chen Confucius
- 492 BC Practices rites under a tree in Song Confucius
- 490 BC Fought at Marathon Aeschylus
- 490 BC Death at Metapontum Pythagoras
- 489 BC Besieged between Chen and Cai Confucius
- 489 BC Visits the Duke of Ye Confucius
- 484 BC Returns home to Qufu Confucius