# Think of a figure who lived BCE **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2016, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404 "2016-07-20T07:25:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/41 "2016-07-20T13:44:24Z")
Plato ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/42 "2016-07-20T13:44:30Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Last one of these, promise - but taking it back a while. Who is the first figure to come to mind who lived before 1 BCE? Got a feeling that this will be a landslide and the figure that sprang to mind for me will be the same as it is for you, so I want to see how justified this inkling is. > > The figure I thought of straight away was Julius Caesar, the Roman geezer. I actually thought of Augustus first. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/43 "2016-07-20T13:48:10Z")
Cleopatra and then Hammurabi, in that order, came to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/44 "2016-07-20T13:48:21Z")
The Buddha. ---
**Author:** ![ripply](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f4b2a3/32.png) [@ripply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ripply)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/45 "2016-07-20T14:03:04Z")
Aristotle I wonder why he seems to be a common choice. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/46 "2016-07-20T14:04:44Z")
Outside of Old Testament characters, Socrates ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/47 "2016-07-20T14:08:08Z")
Pythagoras. I’m a math teacher… ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/48 "2016-07-20T14:09:46Z")
Cicero - and have no idea why ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/49 "2016-07-20T14:23:54Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Tutankhamun About six pharaonic names slid through my mind as I read the question. I’ll go with Seti II. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/50 "2016-07-20T14:32:01Z")
Alexander the Great, again. After all, he’s great. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/51 "2016-07-20T14:50:52Z")
Big Julie (thanks to Wayne & Shuster) jumped to my mind instantly. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/52 "2016-07-20T14:52:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My first thought was Archimedes, probably because I recently had cause to look up exactly when he lived. Ooh, I think I can do Archimedes without looking him up. He died at the Roman capture of Syracuse, 212 BC. And he was pretty old at that point, probably over 70. I’m guessing he was born around 285 BC. _looks up_ Wiki has him at ca. 287 BC - 212 BC. I’m awarding myself the point for that one. (What? Yes, in fact, I am great fun at parties. Why do you ask? Actually, though, I’m usually crap at dates.) As for the OP: My top three are Caesar, Hannibal (just because I’m into the Punic Wars at the moment), Alexander. After that, it’s a toss-up between a ton of people. > [@davida03801](#): > > Vertimourix Vercingetorix? > [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > Alexander the Great, again. After all, he’s great. Well, he’s all right. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/53 "2016-07-20T14:58:02Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Tutankhamun Yeah, that was mine as well. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/54 "2016-07-20T15:08:15Z")
Plato, the father of Western philosophy. But then I’m a big fan of ancient Greek culture. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/55 "2016-07-20T15:26:26Z")
gautama buddha ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/56 "2016-07-20T15:46:55Z")
The one I know best is Lao-Tze. Funny I didn’t think of him sooner. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/57 "2016-07-20T15:53:55Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Two for Tut. Three I guess my interpretation was who do we have the most evidence that they existed BCE. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/58 "2016-07-20T16:00:19Z")
Shamgar. From the Book of Judges (he killed a bunch of Philistines with an ox-goad). He was kind of a running joke between me and a friend way back in the day for having two lines about him (“Shamgar who slew 600 (?) Philistines with an ox-goad. He too saved Israel.”) and that’s it. Badass enough to get mentioned but not enough to get a third line. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/59 "2016-07-20T16:08:29Z")
Hammurabi for me. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404/60 "2016-07-20T16:40:09Z")
Themistocles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-figure-who-lived-bce/760404.md?page=4)