Thucydides

Historian · 484 BC – 425 BC

Herodotus was a Greek writer of the 5th century BC, called the "Father of History" for his Histories, the first known work to systematically investigate and narrate past events as a connected inquiry.

• The Histories
• Father of History

Why The older 'Father of History' whose work Thucydides refined into rigorous method.

Philosopher · 470 BC – 399 BC

Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher credited as a founder of Western philosophy, famous for the Socratic method of questioning and for his trial and execution in Athens.

• Socratic method
• The examined life

Why A contemporary Athenian whose city and era Thucydides chronicled.

Biographer · 46 – 120

Plutarch was a Greek philosopher and biographer of the Roman era whose Parallel Lives paired famous Greeks and Romans and became one of the most read and influential works of biography in history.

• Parallel Lives
• Moralia

Why A later Greek writer who also recorded the deeds of statesmen and generals.

Statesman · 1874 – 1965

Winston Churchill was the British statesman who led the United Kingdom to victory in World War II — and a prolific historian and writer whose books and speeches won him the Nobel Prize in Literature, a rare honour for a man of action.

• Leadership in World War II
• Historic wartime speeches

Why Also a writer & historian · Comparable historical impact

Military Strategist · 544 BC – 496 BC

Sun Tzu was an ancient Chinese general and strategist, traditionally the author of The Art of War, the most influential treatise on strategy ever written.

• The Art of War
• Strategic philosophy

Why Also a general & writer · Comparable historical impact

Statesman · 106 BC – 43 BC

Cicero was a Roman statesman, orator and philosopher whose speeches and writings defined Latin prose, transmitted Greek philosophy to Rome, and championed the values of the Roman Republic.

• Roman oratory
• Defending the Republic

Why Also a writer · Comparable historical impact

Philosopher · 1770 – 1831

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher and the leading figure of German idealism, whose dialectical method and grand vision of history as the self-development of Spirit profoundly shaped modern philosophy.

• German idealism
• The dialectic

Why Also a writer · Comparable historical impact

Writer · 1903 – 1950

George Orwell was an English writer and journalist whose novels Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm became the defining warnings against totalitarianism, giving the world terms such as "Big Brother", "doublethink" and "Orwellian".

• Nineteen Eighty-Four
• Animal Farm

Why Also a writer · Comparable historical impact

Historian · 1332 – 1406

Ibn Khaldun was a North African scholar of the 14th century widely regarded as a founder of historiography, sociology and economics, whose Muqaddimah pioneered the analytical study of how societies rise and fall.

• The Muqaddimah
• Theory of asabiyyah

Why Also a historian · Comparable historical impact

Philosopher · 1469 – 1527

Niccolò Machiavelli was a Renaissance Italian diplomat, political philosopher and writer whose treatise The Prince founded modern political science and gave his name to ruthless statecraft.

• The Prince
• Founding modern political science

Why Also a writer · Comparable historical impact

Statesman · 1858 – 1919

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States, a soldier, conservationist and reformer — and a remarkably prolific author who wrote around forty books on history, nature, politics and exploration alongside his public career.

• 26th U.S. President
• National parks and conservation

Why Also a writer · Comparable historical impact

Statesman · 1743 – 1826

Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States, who was also a prolific writer, architect and scholar whose Notes on the State of Virginia was a landmark of early American letters.

• Declaration of Independence
• Third U.S. President

Why Also a writer · Comparable historical impact

Statesman · 1478 – 1535

Thomas More was an English statesman, lawyer and Renaissance humanist who served as Lord Chancellor and coined the word "utopia" in his book of that name — and who was executed for refusing to accept King Henry VIII's break with Rome.

• Utopia
• Coining the word 'utopia'

Why Also a writer · Comparable historical impact

Playwright · 480 BC – 406 BC

Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, whose psychologically searching, often unsettling plays such as Medea and The Bacchae made him the most modern-feeling dramatist of the ancient world.

• Medea
• The Bacchae

Why Also a writer · Active in the same era

Poet · 630 BC – 570 BC

Sappho was an ancient Greek lyric poet from the island of Lesbos, celebrated in antiquity as one of the greatest of all poets and revered for her intimate, intensely personal verse on love and longing.

• Lyric love poetry
• The 'Tenth Muse'

Why Also a writer · Active in the same era

Playwright · 497 BC – 406 BC

Sophocles was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, author of Oedipus Rex and Antigone, whose dramas shaped Western theatre and gave us some of its most enduring stories.

• Oedipus Rex
• Antigone

Why Also a writer · Active in the same era

Poet · b. 800 BC

Homer was the legendary ancient Greek poet to whom the great epics the Iliad and the Odyssey are attributed, foundational works of Western literature.

• The Iliad
• The Odyssey

Why Also a writer · Active in the same era

Mathematician · 325 BC – 265 BC

Euclid was an ancient Greek mathematician, the "father of geometry", whose treatise the Elements is the most influential mathematics textbook ever written.

• The Elements
• Euclidean geometry

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Physician · 460 BC – 370 BC

Hippocrates was an ancient Greek physician regarded as the father of Western medicine, who established medicine as a rational discipline distinct from superstition and inspired the Hippocratic Oath.

• Father of medicine
• The Hippocratic Oath

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Mathematician · 570 BC – 495 BC

Pythagoras was an ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher who founded the Pythagorean school and is remembered for the Pythagorean theorem and the idea that number underlies the cosmos.

• Pythagorean theorem
• Pythagoreanism

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Philosopher · 334 BC – 262 BC

Zeno of Citium was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded Stoicism, teaching that virtue and reason are the path to a good life, in lectures given at the Painted Porch (Stoa) in Athens.

• Founding Stoicism
• Teaching at the Stoa

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

King · 540 BC – 480 BC

Leonidas I was a king of Sparta who led a small Greek force in a legendary last stand against the vast Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, becoming an enduring symbol of courage and sacrifice.

• Battle of Thermopylae
• The stand of the 300

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Statesman · 495 BC – 429 BC

Pericles was an Athenian statesman who led the city during its golden age, strengthening its democracy, building the Parthenon and championing the arts, in an era so brilliant it is often called the Age of Pericles.

• The Age of Pericles
• Building the Parthenon

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Statesman · 524 BC – 459 BC

Themistocles was an Athenian statesman and general whose foresight built the navy that saved Greece, and whose brilliant strategy at the Battle of Salamis destroyed the Persian fleet and turned back Xerxes's invasion.

• Battle of Salamis
• Building the Athenian navy

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization