Name |
Example |
Gloss |
Alexander |
Ham V.i.194 |
Alexander the Great; Macedonian king in 4th-c BC, known for his extensive empire
Nine Worthies below |
Alisander |
LLL V.ii.561 |
old form of Alexander Alexander above |
Ancus Martius |
Cor II.iii.238 |
fourth king of Rome 7th-c BC |
Antiochus the Great |
Per Chorus.I.17 |
Antiochus III; Syrian king in 2nd-c BC |
Antony, Mark |
H5 III.vi.14 |
Roman leader in 1st-c BC; character in Antony and Cleopatra |
Aristotle |
TC II.ii.167 |
Greek philosopher, 4th-c BC |
Bajazeth |
AW IV.i.41 |
Ottoman sultan in 14th-c |
Bargulus |
2H6 IV.i.108 |
Balkan pirate of Roman times |
Brutus, Lucius |
JC I.ii.158 |
Lucius Junius Brutus, founder of the Roman republic in 509 BC |
Brutus, Marcus |
Ham III.ii.113 |
Marcus Junius Brutus; 1st-c BC Roman politician, involved in the assassination of Julius Caesar; character in Julius Caesar |
Cadwallader |
H5 V.i.27 |
last of the British kings, 7th-c |
Caesar |
Ham V.i.209 |
Roman politician and general; character in Julius Caesar |
Cassibelan |
Cym I.i.30 |
British king in 1st-c., brother or (III.i.5) uncle of Cymbeline |
Cassius |
AC II.vi.15 |
Gaius Cassius Longinus, Roman senator, 1st-c BC, a leader of the plot to kill Julius Caesar |
Catiline |
E3 III.i.14 |
a Roman noble, a conspirator against the Roman Republic in 62 BC |
Cato |
Cor I.iv.59 |
Cato the Elder, 2nd-c BC Roman politician |
Cato |
JC V.i.101 |
Cato the Younger, 1st-c BC Roman politician, and opponent of Caesar |
Censorinus |
Cor II.iii.242 |
Caius Marcius Rutilus, 3rd-c BC Roman politician |
Cham |
MA II.i.246 |
khan or oriental emperor; emperor of China |
Charlemain |
AW II.i.77 |
Charlemagne, king of the Franks in 768--814; great patron of learning Nine Worthies below |
Cleitus |
H5 IV.vii.43 |
friend and commander of Alexander, killed by him in a quarrel Alexander above |
Cleopatra |
AYL III.ii.142 |
Egyptian queen in 1st-c BC; character in Antony and Cleopatra |
Clotharius |
H8 I.iii.10 |
king of the Franks in 6th-c |
Constantine the Great |
1H6 I.ii.142 |
Roman emperor aand saint, 4th-c |
Coriolanus |
Tit IV.iv.68 |
Caius Martius, defender of the early Roman republic in 5th-c BC; character in Coriolanus |
Cymbeline |
Cym I.ii.55 |
Celtic king in 1st-c. Britain, usually named as Cunobelinus |
Cyrus |
1H6 II.iii.6 |
Cyrus the Great, 6th-c BC, king of Persia |
Darius |
1H6 I.vi.25 |
Darius the Great, 6th-c BC king of Persia |
Epicurus |
JC V.i.76 |
Greek philosopher, 4th-c BC |
Galen |
Cor II.i.111 |
Greek physician, 2nd-c |
Hannibal |
1H6 I.v.21 |
Carthaginian general, 3rd-c BC |
Hector |
1H6 I.v.21 |
Nine Worthies below |
Helen |
1H6 I.ii.142 |
St Helena, 3rd-c, mother of Constantine the Great |
Hippocrates |
MW III.i.61 |
Greek physician, 4th-c |
Horace |
Tit IV.ii.22 |
Latin poet, 1st-c BC |
Hostilius |
Cor II.iii.239 |
Tullus Hostilius, third king of Rome, 7th-c BC |
Julius Caesar |
R2 V.i.2 |
Caesar above, Nine Worthies below |
Laura |
RJ II.iv.39 |
lady addressed in Petrarch’s love poetry |
Lucretia, Lucrece |
AYL III.ii.144 |
legendary Roman heroine, 6th-c BC, who killed herself after being raped by Tarquin; subject of The Rape of Lucrece Tarquin below |
Lycurgus |
Cor II.i.52 |
Spartan legislator, 7th-c BC, legendary for wisdom |
Machiavel |
1H6 V.iv.74 |
Machiavelli; early 16th-c Italian political theorist, associated with stratagem and cunning |
Mahomet |
1H6 I.ii.140 |
the prophet Mohammed; founder of Islam, 7th-c |
Milo |
TC II.iii.244 |
Greek athlete, 6th-c BC, who carried an ox around the stadium at Olympia then ate it all in a single day |
Mulmutius |
Cym III.i.59 |
early British king |
Nebuchadnezzar |
AW IV.v.18 |
king of Babylon, 6th-c BC |
Nero |
Ham III.ii.401 |
Roman emperor, 1st-c, who slew his mother, Agrippina; supposed to have played on his lute while watching Rome burn; considered a model of cruelty |
Nervii |
JC III.ii.174 |
Belgian tribe, defeated by Caesar in 57 BC |
Nine Worthies |
2H4 II.iv.215 |
three pagans (Hector of Troy, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar), three Jews (Joshua, David, Judas Maccabaeus), three Christians (Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey of Bouillon or Guy of Warwick); Hercules and Pompey the Great are (unusually) included by the players in LLL V.ii |
Numa |
Cor II.iii.238 |
Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome, 716-672 BC |
Ovid, Ovidius |
AYL III.iii.6 |
Latin poet; exiled to live among the Goths in AD 8 |
Paracelsus |
AW II.iii.11 |
Swiss physician and alchemist, 16th-c |
Pepin, Pippen |
LLL IV.i.121 |
king of the Franks in 8th-c |
Petrarch |
RJ II.iv.39 |
Italian poet, 14th-c |
Pharamond |
H5 I.ii.37 |
legendary king of the Salian Franks |
Pippen |
AW II.i.76 |
Pepin above |
Plautus |
Ham II.ii.399 |
Latin comic playwright, 2nd-c BC |
Pompeion, Pompion |
LLL V.ii.501 |
malapropism for Pompey the Great |
Pompey |
2H6 IV.i.140 |
Pompey the Great; Roman politician and general, 1st-c BC
Nine Worthies above |
Pompey |
AC I.v.31 |
Gnaeus Pompey, son of Pompey the Great |
Portia |
MV I.i.166 |
wife of Brutus, daughter of Cato the Younger
Brutus, Marcus above |
Priscian |
LLL V.i.28 |
Latin grammarian, 6th-c |
Publicola |
Cor V.iii.64 |
one of the first consuls of Rome, 6th-c BC |
Publius |
Cor II.iii.240 |
supposed ancestor of Caius Martius Coriolanus above |
Pythagoras |
TN IV.ii.49 |
Greek philosopher and mathematician, 6th-c BC |
Quintus |
Cor II.iii.240 |
supposed ancestor of Caius Martius; in fact, Quintus Martius Rex was a later Roman administrator, 2nd-c BC
Coriolanus above |
Rhodope |
1H6 I.vi.22 |
Greek courtesan who became queen of Memphis, and the supposed builder of the third pyramid |
Roscius |
Ham II.ii.389 |
most famous actor of ancient Rome, 2nd-c BC |
Semiramis |
TS induction.2.38 |
semi-legendary Assyrian queen renowned for promiscuity, 9th-c BC |
Seneca |
Ham II.ii.399 |
Seneca the Younger, 1st-c, Roman tragedian |
Socrates |
TS I.ii.70 |
Greek philosopher, 5th-c BC |
Solon |
Tit I.i.180 |
Athenian statesman, c.7th-c BC |
Sylla |
2H6 IV.i.84 |
Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Roman dictator, 2nd-c BC |
Tarquin |
Cor II.i.143 |
Tarquinius Superbus, seventh king of Rome, 6th-c BC |
Tenantius |
Cym I.i.31 |
British king, father of Cymbeline |
Tomyris |
1H6 II.iii.6 |
Scythian queen, 6th-c BC, who killed Cyrus the Great |
Tully |
2H6 IV.i.138 |
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman orator, statesman, and philosopher, 1st-c BC |
Turk |
2H4 III.ii.297 |
Sultan of Turkey |
Virginius |
Tit V.iii.36 |
character in Livy: 5th-c BC centurion who slew his daughter, either to avoid her being raped or because she was raped |
Xanthippe |
TS I.ii.70 |
wife of Socrates, 5th-c BC |
Xerxes |
E3 III.i.56 |
king of Persia, 5th-c BC |