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381 BCE

This year falls in the Classical antiquity (c. 500 BCE–500 CE). Large empires rule much of Eurasia, among them Persia, the Maurya and Gupta states of India, Han China and Rome. Classical Greece, the spread of Buddhism and the rise of Christianity belong to this era, which ends as the western Roman Empire falls in the fifth century CE.

Within fifteen years

Philosopher · Classical Greece · GreeceAristotle384–322 BCPhilosopher from Stagira. Studied at Plato's Academy for about twenty years, later founded the Lyceum, and rejected Plato's separate Forms. Tutored Alexander of Macedon.

Classical Greece · GreeceRepublicc. 375 BCPlato's dialogue on justice in the city and in the soul. A primary text. Not a record of a state that existed.

Philosopher · Classical antiquity · ChinaMenciusc. 372–c. 289 BCChinese Confucian thinker, the second sage of the tradition after Confucius, who taught that human nature is good and that rulers must earn the people's welfare. His conversations with kings were collected as the book Mencius. He lived about 372 to 289 BC.

Philosopher · Classical antiquity · ChinaZhuangzic. 369–c. 286 BCChinese Daoist thinker, second only to Laozi in the tradition, whose book of parables and dialogues is a masterpiece of world literature. He taught the relativity of all viewpoints. He lived about 369 to 286 BC.