1500 BCE to 500 CE most influential person?

Question

Who was the most influential person from 1500 BCE to 500 CE (so, let's say from the time of Moses, to the fall of Rome) ? More specifically, from Europe and Asia.

Answer 1

Influential hmmm that could be a few i suppose.

Maybe Copernicus or Socrates & Aristotle?

Julius Caesar or Augustus Caesar?

Hannibal

Harod the Great

Alexander the Great

I cant choose just one there are so many, even Attila.

Who do you think?

Answer 2

Has to be Jesus Christ. He has to be the most influential single person in human history for all time periods whether you are Christian or not. Of course the great prophet Muhammad would be right up there too, but he died in 632 CE which is after your time period. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddah, (563-483 BCE) and K'ung Fu-Tzu, "Confuscius" (551 - 497 BCE) have to be up there as well due to Asian influence which means more people influenced in total population comparisons. The world's religions have had more sustained impact on the lives of people over many generations than individual kings or generals.
If your teacher wants to debate the proof of existence of the physical man Jesus, you can counter with the "idea" of Jesus being a greater influence on more people than the idea of any other person except perhaps Muhammad, Confucius, or the Buddah. You would have to crunch numbers to figure out how many billions of people have been affected by each. I'm not saying which was the "BEST". I think we are going for the greatest number of people influenced here. An interesting question/problem indeed.

Answer 3

Definitely Jesus for sure. No one can be more influential than Christ.

Also, any significant Caesar who has ruled the Roman Empire. Constantine is also considered influential.

I'm going to go outside 500 A.D. and say that Justinian is also a significant figure in the Byzantine Empire (though they didn't call themselves Byzantines).

I could make an endless list of people who were significantly influential. Alexander the Great conquered most of the known world at such a young age. There are dozens of ancient figures and Christian saints who have made their marks on history.

Answer 4

Hello,
I would have to say Augustus Caesar.
Augustus Caesar because
the Roman Empire is the most celebrated empire of antiquity.Rome was both the culmination of ancient civilization and the principal conduit by which the ideas and cultural achievements of the peoples of the ancient world (Egyptians, Babylonians, Jews, Greeks, and other) had been transmitted to western Europe.

I see some pick Jesus but without the Pax Romana built by Augustus Caesar Christ's teachings and those of St. Paul who really spread Christianity over the empire would not have come about as easily without the roads, commerce, protection and stability of Rome and Augustus.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 5

Moses

Moses influenced Jesus and the Old Testament had a lasting historical influence throughout Europe and Asia.

Another contender is Socrates who had a famous pupil called Plato who had a famous pupil called Aristotle and the whole Socratic school of thought and philosophy and questioning authority had a major influence when it filtered into Europe through the Arabic and Jewish translators and was really one of the things that started the Renaissance in Europe.

If you want people influential in their own time, then I would probably go for Julius Caesar.

But for long-term influence Moses, Jesus and Socrates... and I'd say Moses.

Answer 6

With a cut off date like 500 and a geographical limitation of including both Europe and Asia, I'd say Alexander or Julius Cesar. Alexander if I was forced to pick, as he did a lot more to change the world as a single individual, while Caesar was more of a class of men who changed the world.

Answer 7

Easily, I would have to say Jesus. You'll probably find the most and the least information on him. He has influenced billions of people, but there is no evidence of him besides the bible. If your asking this for a report, Id go with someone else, someone like Julius Caesar. Or Constantine.

Answer 8

That's got to be Jesus ~ over 2 billion modern adherents, a cross on 100 national flags, a tenth of the world's revenue, a church in almost every country, and His book has been on the best seller's list since the 4th century AD.

Answer 9

Jesus Christ. Though the present anti-Christian view of history is seen in your textbooks and teachers reference to the CE, common era, rather than to BC, before Christ, and AD, anno Domini, the year of Our Lord.

Answer 10

Alexander the Great