Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han)
c. 256 BC – 195 BC · 61 years · Chang'an · Asia
A commoner who defeated Xiang Yu after the fall of Qin and founded the Han dynasty, which lasted four centuries.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 3rd century BC
Portrait: Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Archimedes — mathematician, physicist and engineer, 31 years older
- Scipio Africanus — Roman general, 20 years younger
- Cato the Elder — Roman statesman and writer, 22 years younger
Africa
- Hannibal — Carthaginian general, 9 years younger
- Eratosthenes — scholar, head of the Library of Alexandria, 20 years older
Asia
- Qin Shi Huang — first emperor of China, 3 years older
- Ashoka — Maurya emperor, 48 years older
- Empress Lü (Lü Zhi) — Han empress and regent, 15 years younger
- Modu Chanyu — chanyu, founder of the Xiongnu empire, 22 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- 221 BC Qin Shi Huang unifies China — aged 35, Asia
- 218 BC Hannibal crosses the Alps — aged 38, Europe
- 216 BC Battle of Cannae — aged 40, Europe
- c. 214 BC Great Wall of China — aged 42, Asia
- 210 BC Terracotta Army — aged 46, Asia
- 202 BC Founding of the Han dynasty — aged 54, Asia