Aristotle painting

Explore the most important names in ancient history. This list excludes people whose existence is disputed by most scholars.

The School of Athens - Raphael, 1511

Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), a detail of The School of Athens, a fresco by Raphael.

By Van Bryan Bertrand Russell once said that one quality that made Socrates a great philosopher was his ability to not become angered or annoyed even when his philosophical sparring partner was outright mocking him. And if we are judging good philosophers by that standard, then I am a terrible philosopher. If you ever want

The School of Athens, fresco, detail, Stanza della Segnatura, Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520) Scuola di Atene

rembrandt

Learn more about how these two key philosophers were related and how their teachings differed.

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Much of what we know about ancient Greece and Rome tends to come from films and TV. And, well, much of what we know is plain wrong.