1. Herodotus
Nicknamed the 鈥渇ather of history,鈥 Herodotus is credited with essentially inventing the genre, the origins of which lie in epics and travelogues. In his masterpiece, 鈥淭he Histories,鈥 he declared at the outset his intention to 鈥減revent the traces of human events from being erased by time.鈥 He then exhaustively detailed the Persian Empire鈥檚 expansion and subsequent clash with the city-states of Greece in the 5th century B.C., while also adding in tabloid-worthy asides, such as an allegation that Egyptian women urinate standing up. Withstanding criticism from Aristotle and Plutarch, among other luminaries, 鈥淭he Histories鈥 remains the go-to source on the Greco-Persian Wars. Though Greek, Herodotus was born around 485 B.C. in present-day Turkey, which was then under Persian rule. Little is known about his life, other than that he apparently gained widespread popularity in Athens and later joined an Athenian-sponsored colony in southern Italy.
2. Thucydides
An Athenian aristocrat who derived at least part of his wealth from gold mining interests, Thucydides served briefly as a general during the Peloponnesian War. He was exiled from Athens, however, for failing to prevent archrival Sparta from capturing a key city, and thereafter turned his attention to chronicling the devastating conflict, which raged from 431 to 404 B.C. Having interviewed sources from both sides, Thucydides remained relatively objective in his groundbreaking account, titled 鈥淗istory of the Peloponnesian War.鈥 He moreover eschewed the sensationalism of Herodotus, his elder contemporary, and included many fewer references to the gods. Unfortunately, the text ends abruptly in 411 B.C.鈥攑ossibly due to his death鈥攍eaving it to other Greek historians to record the final stages of Sparta鈥檚 victory over Athens.
3. Livy
As part of their embrace of Greek culture, the Romans likewise developed a fascination with history. Yet their earliest historians were all essentially amateurs, either politicians or military officials who wrote in their spare time. No full-time Roman historian would surface until the reign of Emperor Augustus, when Titus Livius, better known as Livy, penned an astonishing 142 books (only 35 of which still survive). Though born in present-day Padua in northern Italy, Livy moved to Rome and got to work as soon as a deadly civil war concluded in 31 B.C. Unlike Herodotus and Thucydides, he didn鈥檛 hesitate to cover the distant past, beginning even before the supposed founding of Rome in 753 B.C. and from there slowly making his way through the next eight centuries. Perhaps most renowned for his descriptions of the Carthaginian general Hannibal, legend holds that a man once journeyed all the way from C谩diz, Spain, just to catch sight of him.
4. Tacitus
Born around 56 A.D., probably in southern Gaul (present-day southeastern France), Tacitus moved to Rome by the mid-70s and began a career in politics and the law. With the help of his politically connected father-in-law, he steadily rose through the official ranks, becoming a senator and consul while also gaining fame as an orator and prosecutor. These pursuits, however, would all end up taking a backseat to writing. In 98, he authored his first known works鈥攁 biography of his father-in-law and an ethnographic study of the Germanic tribes鈥攁nd followed that up with a book on oratory. Tacitus then turned to history, finishing one provocative account of the Flavian dynasty and another of the Julio-Claudian dynasty that picked up right where Livy had left off. A critic of absolute power who took potshots at several Roman emperors, his 鈥渃ompound of history and morality鈥 would prompt Thomas Jefferson to call him the 鈥渇irst writer in the world without a single exception.鈥
5. Sima Qian
Unbeknownst to the Greeks and Romans, the Chinese simultaneously developed their own literary historical traditions, best exemplified in the work of Sima Qian, who鈥檚 often called the Chinese Herodotus. Appointed grand historian and astrologer following the death of his father, who held the same post, Sima Qian undertook the first-ever universal history of China and its neighbors, titled the 鈥淪hiji (Historical Records).鈥 Much like Livy, he began with his civilization鈥檚 supposed founder, the legendary Yellow Emperor鈥攅ssentially the Chinese equivalent of Romulus鈥攁nd continued on to his own time. The monumental project almost came undone in 99 B.C., when he incurred the wrath of the emperor for coming to the defense of a defeated general. Given a choice of punishment, the historian purportedly defied custom by selecting castration over execution, shaming himself and his family so that he could continue his work.
6. Ban Zhao
Though rare, female historians also populated the ancient world. In China, for instance, Ban Zhao stepped in to complete a mammoth history of the Han dynasty, titled 鈥淗an shu,鈥 after her father and brother both died mid-project. Born in 45 A.D. to a prominent family, she married at age 14. But when her husband died soon after, she swore off relationships and devoted herself instead to intellectual activities. In addition to the 鈥淗an shu,鈥 which was modeled after the 鈥淪hiji,鈥 Ban Zhao authored numerous poems and essays, including a guide to women鈥檚 conduct that stressed humility, hard work and religious observance.