Allowed exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple in 539 B.C.E.
Who is Cyrus?
100
Chinese emperor who established an imperial academy where potential civil servants were trained as scholars with an emphasis on Confucian teachings.
Who is Wu Di?
100
Athenian philosopher who described an ideal society as one with a philosopher king and highly educated guardians to lead the general public past their inherent ignorance.
Who is Plato?
100
First Roman emperor who maintained the institutions of the Republic but without any real political power.
Who is Caesar Augustus?
100
Prince from a small north Indian state who went on a spiritual quest in the late sixth century B.C.E. that led him to become the Enlightened One.
Who is Siddhartha Gautama?
200
Gilgamesh’ wrestling opponent and travel companion who must die as a result of offending the gods.
Who is Enkidu?
200
Semi-legendary Chinese archivist who wrote a short poetic volume around the sixth century B.C.E. from which Daoism evolved.
Who is Laozi?
200
Athenian ruler in the fifth century B.C.E. who praised the democratic traditions of his polis.
Who is Pericles?
200
Early convert to Christianity who declared its universal application and salvation for all who believed in Jesus.
Who is Saint Paul?
200
Third-century B.C.E. Mauryan dynasty ruler who converted to Buddhism and sought to rule with a moralistic emphasis.
Who is Ashoka?
300
Persian prophet from the seventh century B.C.E. who taught of a unique single god who ruled the world and was the source of all truth, light, and goodness.
Who is Zarathustra?
300
Chinese woman writer and court official who stressed the need for women to play a supporting role to the men in their lives.
Who is Ban Zhao?
300
Athenian reformer who, in 594 B.C.E. ended debt slavery and allowed all male citizens to participate in the Assembly.
Who is Solon?
300
Late fourth-century Emperor who enacted the law that made Christianity the only official religion of the Roman empire.
Who is Theodosius?
300
Aristocratic widow who led Vietnamese resistance to Chinese imperial rule for about two years starting around 70 C.E.
Who is Trung Trac?
400
Sumerian priestess and poet who sang the praises of Inanna, the goddess of love and war.
Who is Enheduanna?
400
The self-proclaimed “first emperor” who reunified the warring Chinese states in 221 B.C.E. and began the construction of the Great Wall of China to keep out northern barbarians.
Who is Qin Shihuandgdi?
400
Greek historian who studied and wrote about the Greco-Persian Wars in an effort to understand “the reason why they fought one another.”
Who is Herodotus?
400
North African Christian convert who refused to renounce her faith and was put to death as a result.
Who is Perpetua?
400
Founder of an offshoot of Hinduism known as Jainism, who believed that all creatures had souls and opposed the caste system.
Who is Mahavira?
500
Inspector of the scribes during Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty whose sculpture with his wife shows both formality and affection.
Who is Raherka?
500
Political philosopher who initiated Legalism in China in the third century B.C.E.
Who is Han Fei?
500
Ionian Greek classical philosopher who proposed that water was the fundamental nature of the universe.
Who is Thales?
500
Roman consul who was in favor of the Oppian Laws restricting women’s use of luxury goods.
Who is Marcus Porcius Cato?
500
The Buddha’s foster mother who unsuccessfully sought to join a newly created order of monks only to have the Buddha finally relent and create a separate order of nuns.