Most Important People to Know Page Nine
Here is my list of the most important people in the ancient world. In general, I exclude Biblical figures before Moses, legendary founders of Greco-Roman cities, and participants in the Trojan war or Greek mythology.
For those names that interest you, click on the "more info" to read the full article.
See Defining Ancient History, Ancient History Caveats, and Challenge Quiz.
ThucydidesThucydides (born c. 460-455 B.C.) wrote a valuable first-hand account of the Peloponnesian War (History of the Peloponnesian Wa) and improved the way in which history was written.
Thucydides wrote his history based on information about the war from his days as an Athenian commander and interviews with people on both sides of the war. Unlike his predecessor, Herodotus, he didn't delve into the background, but laid out the facts as he saw them, chronologically. We recognize more of what we consider the historical method in Thucydides than we do in his predecessor, Herodotus.
Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikipedia.The Achaemenid Persian King Xerxes (520 - 465 B.C.) was the grandson of Cyrus and the son of Darius. Herodotus states that when a storm damaged the bridge Xerxes had had built across the Hellespont, Xerxes got mad, and ordered the water be lashed and otherwise punished. In antiquity, bodies of water were conceived of as gods (see Iliad XXI), so while Xerxes may have been deluded in thinking himself strong enough to scathe the water, it is not as insane as it sounds: The Roman Emperor Caligula who, unlike Xerxes, is generally considered to have been mad, ordered Roman troops to gather seashells as spoils of the sea. Xerxes fought against the Greeks in the Persian Wars, winning a victory at Thermopylae and suffering defeat at Salamis.
Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikipedia.Like Buddha, the traditional date for Zoroaster (Greek: Zarathustra) is the 6th Century B.C., although Iranists date him to the 10th/11th century. Information about the life of Zoroaster comes from the
Avesta, which contain Zoroaster's own contribution, the
Gathas. Zoroaster saw the world as a struggle between truth and lie, making the religion he founded, Zoroastrianism, a dualistic religion. Ahura Mazda, the uncreated creator God is truth. Zoroaster also taught that there is free will.
The Greeks thought of Zoroaster as a sorcerer and astrologer.
