Homer
- Greek epic poet
- Supposedly wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey
Herodotus
- Greek Historian
- Called "The Father of History" because he was the first to write history as an investigation of the past
- Also called "The Father of Lies" because he didn't fact check all of his sources
- Wrote about The Persian Wars
Thucydides
- Greek Historian
- Made an effort to be much more accurate than Herodotus
- Wrote about The Peloponnesian War
Virgil
- Roman epic poet
- Wrote The Aeneid
Niccolò Machiavelli
- Italian Renaissance political writer
- Wrote The Prince
Erasmus
- Northern Renaissance writer
- Wrote The Praise of Folly
Sir Thomas More
- Northern Renaissance writer
- Wrote Utopia
Petrarch
- Italian Renaissance Humanist writer
- Wrote sonnets and scholarly works
- Studied Greek and Roman texts