Empress Lü (Lü Zhi)
.jpg?width=160 "鍾 惺, 1574-1624 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons")
241 BC – 180 BC · 61 years · Chang'an · Asia
Wife of Liu Bang who effectively ruled China for 15 years after his death, the first woman to hold imperial power.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 3rd century BC
Portrait: 鍾 惺, 1574-1624 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
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Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Archimedes — mathematician, physicist and engineer, 46 years older
- Scipio Africanus — Roman general, 5 years younger
- Cato the Elder — Roman statesman and writer, 7 years younger
Africa
- Hannibal — Carthaginian general, 6 years older
- Eratosthenes — scholar, head of the Library of Alexandria, 35 years older
Asia
- Qin Shi Huang — first emperor of China, 18 years older
- Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han) — founder of the Han dynasty, 15 years older
- Modu Chanyu — chanyu, founder of the Xiongnu empire, 7 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- 221 BC Qin Shi Huang unifies China — aged 20, Asia
- 218 BC Hannibal crosses the Alps — aged 23, Europe
- 216 BC Battle of Cannae — aged 25, Europe
- c. 214 BC Great Wall of China — aged 27, Asia
- 210 BC Terracotta Army — aged 31, Asia
- 202 BC Founding of the Han dynasty — aged 39, Asia