Historical figures in Rome
The atlas holds 91 people and 241 moments here, from 211 BC to 2025. The most recorded lives are Augustus, Galileo Galilei and Michelangelo. Among them Writers, Political Leaders and Philosophers, across the Ancient World and the Space Age.
Notable people
Augustus
from 63 BC to 4
12 moments here
Augustus, born Gaius Octavius and conventionally called Octavian before 27 BC, founded the Roman principate.…
Galileo Galilei
from 1611 to 1633
11 moments here
Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, mathematician, and natural philosopher. Born in Pisa, Galileo was educated in Tuscany, taught mathematics at…
Michelangelo
from 1496 to 1564
11 moments here
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet.…
Cicero
from 87 BC to 47 BC
10 moments here
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) was a Roman lawyer, orator, philosopher, consul, provincial governor, and defender of the late Republic.…
Julius Caesar
from 100 BC to 44 BC
9 moments here
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman politician, general, orator and author whose career spanned the late Roman Republic.…
Pope John Paul II
from 1946 to 2005
9 moments here
Karol Józef Wojtyła (1920–2005), Pope John Paul II from 1978, was a Polish Catholic priest, bishop, cardinal, and pope.…
Raphael
from 1506 to 1520
8 moments here
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian High Renaissance painter and architect.…
Pope Francis
from 2001 to 2025
7 moments here
Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, was an Argentine Jesuit priest, archbishop of Buenos Aires, cardinal, and head of the Catholic Church and…
Marcus Aurelius
from 121 to 176
6 moments here
Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and Stoic philosopher. This chronology records securely attested physical presence from his birth and Roman residences…
Seneca the Younger
from 5 to 65
6 moments here
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, commonly called Seneca the Younger, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, writer, and statesman.…
Nero
from 54 to 68
6 moments here
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was Roman emperor from 13 October 54 to 9 June 68. This chronology records securely documented physical…
Pope Benedict XVI
from 1981 to 2022
5 moments here
Joseph Alois Ratzinger (1927–2022), Pope Benedict XVI, was a German Catholic theologian, archbishop, cardinal, prefect of the Congregation for the…
Charlemagne
from 774 to 800
5 moments here
Frankish king, Lombard king, and Carolingian emperor who ruled from 768 to 814. His itinerant court moved across Francia, Saxony, Italy, Bavaria, the…
Michel de Montaigne
from 1580 to 1581
5 moments here
French Renaissance writer, magistrate, diplomat, and two-term mayor of Bordeaux, best known for the Essais.…
Ronald Reagan
from 1982 to 1990
4 moments here
American broadcaster, actor, labor leader, governor of California, and 40th president of the United States.…
Benito Mussolini
from 1929 to 1940
4 moments here
Italian journalist, Fascist leader, and dictator of Italy from 1922 until his removal in 1943.…
Diego Maradona
from 1987 to 2014
4 moments here
Argentine football player and manager Diego Armando Maradona (1960–2020) was a central figure in world football.…
Constantine the Great
from 312 to 326
4 moments here
Roman emperor from 306 to 337. Born at Naissus, Constantine served under Diocletian and Galerius in the eastern empire, joined his father in Britain,…
Tacitus
from 88 to 104
4 moments here
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian, senator, orator, and provincial governor. His birth date and place are uncertain; he was probably…
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
from 1786 to 1787
3 moments here
German poet, dramatist, novelist, scientist, theatre director, and statesman. Born in Frankfurt, Goethe studied in Leipzig and Strasbourg, practiced…
Hans Christian Andersen
from 1833 to 1840
3 moments here
Danish writer renowned for literary fairy tales including “The Little Mermaid,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Snow Queen,” and “The Ugly…
Virgil
from 55 BC to 36 BC
3 moments here
Publius Vergilius Maro, known as Virgil, was a Roman poet of the Augustan age and the author of the Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid.…
Mikhail Gorbachev
from 1971 to 1989
3 moments here
Soviet and Russian politician who led the Soviet Union from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991.…
Giuseppe Verdi
from 1848 to 1893
3 moments here
Italian composer whose career transformed nineteenth-century opera. Born near Busseto, Verdi studied and worked in Busseto and Milan, then traveled…
Moments
- 211 BC Marches to the gates of Rome Hannibal
- 211 BC March on Rome Hannibal
- 100 BC Born in Rome Julius Caesar
- 87 BC Studies with Philo in Rome Cicero
- 78 BC Returns to Rome after Sulla's death Julius Caesar
- 77 BC Returns to Rome from eastern studies Cicero
- 70 BC Prosecutes Verres at Rome Cicero
- 68 BC Writes from Rome Cicero
- 63 BC Accompanies Lentulus to the Tullianum Cicero
- 63 BC Born on the Palatine Hill Augustus
- 61 BC Writes from Rome after his consulship Cicero
- 59 BC Serves as consul in Rome Julius Caesar
- 59 BC Returns to Rome Cicero
- 57 BC Re-enters Rome after exile Cicero
- 55 BC Continued his studies in Rome Virgil
- 49 BC Arrives outside Rome with imperium Cicero
- 49 BC Returns to Rome during the civil war Julius Caesar
- 47 BC Returns to Rome after Caesar's victory Cicero
- 47 BC Assumes the toga of manhood Augustus
- 46 BC Presides over Caesar’s Greek games Augustus
- 46 BC Lodged at Caesar's villa in Rome Cleopatra
- 46 BC Celebrates triumphs in Rome Julius Caesar
- 45 BC Returns to Rome after Spain Julius Caesar
- 44 BC Dines at Lepidus' house on the eve of the assassination Julius Caesar
- 44 BC Watches the Lupercalia from the Rostra Julius Caesar
- 44 BC Assassinated at the Curia of Pompey Julius Caesar
- 44 BC Remained in Rome after Caesar's murder Cleopatra
- 44 BC Returns to Rome as Caesar’s heir Augustus
- 44 BC Enters Rome with a private army Augustus
- 43 BC Marches on the capital Augustus
- 39 BC Attacked by a Roman food-riot mob Augustus
- 37 BC Finished the Eclogues in Rome Virgil
- 36 BC Departed Rome for Brundisium Virgil
- 32 BC Confronts Antony’s supporters in the Senate Augustus
- 29 BC Celebrates three Roman triumphs Augustus
- 27 BC Maintains his principal Palatine residence Augustus
- 9 BC Delivers a eulogy for Drusus Augustus
- 8 BC Death in Rome Horace
- 4 Adopts Tiberius in Rome Augustus
- 5 Childhood residence and education Seneca the Younger
- 8 Banished from Rome Ovid
- 31 Return from Egypt Seneca the Younger
- 42 Traditional arrival in Rome Saint Peter
- 49 Recall to Nero's court Seneca the Younger
- 54 Accession before the Praetorian cohort Nero
- 60 House arrest and preaching at Rome Paul the Apostle
- 62 Retirement on country estates Seneca the Younger
- 64 Death at Rome Paul the Apostle
- 64 Traditional crucifixion on Vatican Hill Saint Peter
- 64 Return to fire-stricken Rome Nero