This site was inspired by our "Roman Personality" paper — a study in which we attempted to reconstruct a personality model from ancient Roman historical texts.
We used GPT-4o to code each incidence of person-description for whether or not the adjective in question was truly trait descriptive, and also for who that adjective pertained to. Then we used GPT-4.1 to disambiguate between these named individuals, merging those who were identical (e.g., "Julius Caesar" and "Caesar"), assign a birthplace to each person, and assign a religion to each person. Wikipedia was then scraped for the top image in relation to each person's name, and added that as their "portrait." This yielded some really cool, rich data, where for each individual we have a list of documents in which they appeared, and the adjectives used to describe them. I thought people might like to explore this data, so I built this website.
However, it's important to note that since the data processing was automated, there are occasional mistakes. People who are distinct sometimes get merged, people get the wrong birthplace assigned to them, some portraits are wrong (sometimes hilariously), and some adjectives aren't really used in the trait-descriptive sense (e.g., "Good Solonius" might get assigned "good" even though, in this case, it's just part of his name).
If you catch a mistake, please email me! If you like this work and want to see some of my other stuff, check out my website.
The texts behind this site are English translations of ancient letters, biographies, histories, apologetics, hagiographies, and philosophical writings, spanning roughly 100 BCE to 800 CE. The core of the collection is the Roman Letters corpus compiled by Craig Vander Galien; to it we added further letters and a set of non-epistolary works, each drawn from the public digital editions listed below.
| Collection | Type | Trad. | Docs | Words | Persons | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Letters from the Roman Letters corpus — 54 collections (Vander Galien, 2026) | ||||||
| Libanius | L | Pa | 837 | 154,984 | 91 | Roman Letters |
| Gregory the Great | L | Ch | 856 | 190,233 | 57 | Roman Letters |
| Symmachus | L | Pa | 677 | 85,603 | 45 | Roman Letters |
| Isidore of Pelusium | L | Ch | 630 | 75,848 | 23 | Roman Letters |
| Cassiodorus | L | Ch | 477 | 144,677 | 40 | Roman Letters |
| Pliny the Younger | L | Pa | 365 | 133,383 | 80 | Roman Letters |
| Basil of Caesarea | L | Ch | 325 | 91,587 | 44 | Roman Letters |
| Ennodius of Pavia | L | Ch | 297 | 59,371 | 22 | Roman Letters |
| Jerome † | L | Ch | 279 | 353,022 | 88 | Roman Letters / CCEL |
| Augustine of Hippo | L | Ch | 260 | 143,975 | 31 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Hormisdas | L | Ch | 249 | 46,609 | 7 | Roman Letters |
| Theodoret of Cyrrhus | L | Ch | 181 | 52,614 | 34 | Roman Letters |
| Sidonius Apollinaris | L | Ch | 171 | 72,404 | 53 | Roman Letters |
| Synesius of Cyrene | L | Ch | 159 | 20,536 | 23 | Roman Letters |
| Ambrose of Milan | L | Ch | 119 | 50,935 | 18 | Roman Letters |
| Venantius Fortunatus | L | Ch | 100 | 23,123 | 19 | Roman Letters |
| Gregory of Nazianzus | L | Ch | 92 | 15,539 | 9 | Roman Letters |
| Ruricius of Limoges | L | Ch | 91 | 16,673 | 10 | Roman Letters |
| Julian the Apostate | L | Pa | 83 | 15,786 | 18 | Roman Letters |
| Cyprian of Carthage | L | Ch | 82 | 28,515 | 13 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Pelagius I | L | Ch | 82 | 8,909 | 2 | Roman Letters |
| Avitus of Vienne | L | Ch | 77 | 17,079 | 4 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Leo the Great | L | Ch | 73 | 40,348 | 23 | Roman Letters |
| Paulinus of Nola | L | Ch | 51 | 23,296 | 12 | Roman Letters |
| Boniface | L | Ch | 48 | 30,675 | 7 | Roman Letters |
| Epistulae Austrasicae | L | Ch | 48 | 12,308 | 3 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Gelasius I | L | Ch | 45 | 3,746 | 2 | Roman Letters |
| Athanasius of Alexandria | L | Ch | 44 | 59,757 | 15 | Roman Letters |
| Braulio of Zaragoza | L | Ch | 44 | 12,893 | 3 | Roman Letters |
| Desiderius of Cahors | L | Ch | 36 | 9,418 | 1 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Innocent I | L | Ch | 34 | 2,926 | 1 | Roman Letters |
| Simplicius | L | Ch | 31 | 2,574 | 2 | Roman Letters |
| Epistulae Wisigothicae | L | Ch | 30 | 5,986 | 1 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Felix III | L | Ch | 29 | 7,400 | 2 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Hilary | L | Ch | 25 | 6,080 | 2 | Roman Letters |
| Epistulae Langobardorum | L | Ch | 25 | 6,542 | 1 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Symmachus | L | Ch | 23 | 5,488 | 3 | Roman Letters |
| Epistulae Merowingici | L | Ch | 20 | 5,484 | 1 | Roman Letters |
| Alcuin of York | L | Ch | 15 | 4,192 | 1 | Roman Letters |
| John Chrysostom | L | Ch | 12 | 35,169 | 12 | Roman Letters |
| Faustus of Riez | L | Ch | 11 | 3,163 | 1 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Pelagius II | L | Ch | 11 | 4,209 | 2 | Roman Letters |
| Sulpicius Severus | L | Ch | 10 | 18,596 | 7 | Roman Letters |
| Salvian of Marseille | L | Ch | 9 | 2,541 | 2 | Roman Letters |
| Ferrandus of Carthage | L | Ch | 7 | 1,945 | 0 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Anastasius II | L | Ch | 6 | 1,470 | 0 | Roman Letters |
| Columbanus | L | Ch | 5 | 14,778 | 3 | Roman Letters |
| Bede | L | Ch | 5 | 1,406 | 0 | Roman Letters |
| Caesarius of Arles | L | Ch | 3 | 940 | 1 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Benedict I | L | Ch | 2 | 1,703 | 0 | Roman Letters |
| Pope John II | L | Ch | 2 | 541 | 0 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Agapetus I | L | Ch | 1 | 264 | 0 | Roman Letters |
| Pope John III | L | Ch | 1 | 28 | 0 | Roman Letters |
| Pope Vigilius | L | Ch | 1 | 279 | 0 | Roman Letters |
| B. Further letters compiled by us — 7 collections | ||||||
| Cicero, Ad Atticum (chronological) | L | Pa | 190 | 124,233 | 38 | Project Gutenberg |
| Cicero, Ad Atticum vol. 3 | L | Pa | 188 | 57,719 | 14 | Project Gutenberg |
| Cicero, Ad Atticum vol. 1 | L | Pa | 122 | 64,909 | 19 | Project Gutenberg |
| Cicero, Ad Atticum vol. 2 | L | Pa | 56 | 40,548 | 12 | Project Gutenberg |
| Cicero, mixed letters | L | Pa | 3 | 39,551 | 17 | Project Gutenberg |
| Fronto & Marcus Aurelius, correspondence | L | Pa | 2 | 74,443 | 43 | Wikisource |
| Symmachus, Relatio III | L | Pa | 1 | 5,539 | 2 | Early Church Texts |
| C. Non-epistolary works compiled by us — 21 collections | ||||||
| Historia Augusta | B | Pa | 30 | 10,379,560 | 142 | LacusCurtius |
| Plutarch, Parallel Lives | B | Pa | 50 | 714,811 | 245 | Project Gutenberg |
| Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars | B | Pa | 12 | 212,620 | 47 | Project Gutenberg |
| Cassius Dio, Roman History | H | Pa | 68 | 505,112 | 33 | LacusCurtius |
| Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae | H | Pa | 18 | 245,936 | 132 | Project Gutenberg |
| Tacitus, Annals | H | Pa | 12 | 158,177 | 86 | Wikisource |
| Tacitus, Histories | H | Pa | 5 | 99,918 | 48 | Wikisource |
| Procopius, Secret History | H | Pa | 30 | 39,116 | 18 | Project Gutenberg |
| Zosimus, New History | H | Pa | 6 | 79,188 | 28 | tertullian.org |
| Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History | H | Ch | 10 | 133,987 | 44 | New Advent |
| Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum | H | Ch | 1 | 18,748 | 18 | New Advent |
| Marcus Aurelius, Meditations | P | Pa | 12 | 42,395 | 17 | Wikisource |
| Origen, Contra Celsum | A | Ch | 8 | 244,932 | 45 | New Advent |
| Tertullian, Apologeticum | A | Ch | 1 | 35,678 | 19 | New Advent |
| Tertullian, Adversus Marcionem | A | Ch | 5 | 152,505 | 16 | New Advent |
| Tertullian, De Praescriptione | A | Ch | 1 | 15,666 | 0 | New Advent |
| Minucius Felix, Octavius | A | Ch | 1 | 20,363 | 8 | New Advent |
| Athanasius, Life of Antony | G | Ch | 1 | 24,801 | 6 | New Advent |
| Martyrdom of Polycarp | G | Ch | 1 | 3,793 | 4 | New Advent |
| Acts of Justin Martyr | G | Ch | 1 | 3,041 | 3 | New Advent |
| Passion of Perpetua and Felicity | G | Ch | 1 | 5,698 | 0 | New Advent |
| Total — 82 collections | 8,032 | 15,670,537 | 1,159 | |||
† Jerome's 279 letters combine 148 documents from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) and 131 from the Roman Letters corpus. The "Persons" total counts each individual once across the whole corpus, so it is smaller than the column sum (many people appear in several collections).
Everything here is an English translation, not the original Greek or Latin — so the adjectives reflect the translators' vocabularies as much as the ancient authors'. The pagan works are mostly 19th- and early-20th-century scholarly translations (the Loeb and Bohn Classical Libraries, Dryden's Plutarch, Shuckburgh's Cicero); the Christian works come predominantly from the Ante-Nicene Fathers (1885–1896) and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (1886–1900) series. This shared Victorian prose register may soften, but should not erase, real differences in how pagan and Christian authors described character.
References are the specific editions and translations actually used, grouped by the archive that hosts each. The bulk of the letters come from the Roman Letters dataset; the works below were compiled by us from the public digital editions listed.
Vander Galien, C. (2026). Roman Letters: 7,049 letters from the late Roman world (100–800 AD) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19142059
Ammianus Marcellinus. (2009). The Roman history of Ammianus Marcellinus (C. D. Yonge, Trans.). Project Gutenberg. (Original work published 1862). gutenberg.org/ebooks/28587
Cicero, M. T. (2001). Letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero (E. S. Shuckburgh, Trans.). Project Gutenberg. (Original work published 1908). gutenberg.org/ebooks/2812
Cicero, M. T. (2015). Cicero: Letters to Atticus (E. O. Winstedt, Trans.; Loeb Classical Library, 3 vols.). Project Gutenberg. gutenberg.org/ebooks/58418
Plutarch. (1996). Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans (J. Dryden, Trans.; A. H. Clough, Rev.). Project Gutenberg. (Original work published 1683–1686). gutenberg.org/ebooks/674
Procopius. (2004). The secret history of the court of Justinian (R. Atwater, Trans.). Project Gutenberg. (Original work published 1927). gutenberg.org/ebooks/12916
Suetonius. (2004). The lives of the twelve Caesars (A. Thomson, Trans.; T. Forester, Ed.). Project Gutenberg. (Original translation published 1889). gutenberg.org/ebooks/6386
Cassius Dio. (1914–1927). Roman history (E. Cary, Trans.; Loeb Classical Library, 9 vols.). Harvard University Press. LacusCurtius
Historia Augusta. (1921–1932). (D. Magie, Trans.; Loeb Classical Library, 3 vols.). Harvard University Press. LacusCurtius
Jerome. (1893). The principal works of St. Jerome (W. H. Fremantle, G. Lewis, & W. G. Martley, Trans.; P. Schaff & H. Wace, Eds.; Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd ser., Vol. 6). Christian Literature Publishing Co. ccel.org
Athanasius of Alexandria. (1892). Life of St. Anthony (H. Ellershaw, Trans.; NPNF, 2nd ser., Vol. 4). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Anonymous. (1885). The martyrdom of Polycarp (A. Roberts & J. Donaldson, Trans.; Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Anonymous. (1885). The passion of Perpetua and Felicity (R. E. Wallis, Trans.; ANF, Vol. 3). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Eusebius of Caesarea. (1890). Church history (A. C. McGiffert, Trans.; NPNF, 2nd ser., Vol. 1). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Justin Martyr. (1885). On the sole government of God (G. Reith, Trans.; ANF, Vol. 1). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Lactantius. (1886). Of the manner in which the persecutors died (W. Fletcher, Trans.; ANF, Vol. 7). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Minucius Felix. (1885). Octavius (R. E. Wallis, Trans.; ANF, Vol. 4). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Origen. (1885). Against Celsus (Contra Celsum) (F. Crombie, Trans.; ANF, Vol. 4). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Tertullian. (1885). Against Marcion (Adversus Marcionem) (P. Holmes, Trans.; ANF, Vol. 3). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Tertullian. (1885). Apology (Apologeticum) (S. Thelwall, Trans.; ANF, Vol. 3). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Tertullian. (1885). The prescription against heretics (De Praescriptione Haereticorum) (P. Holmes, Trans.; ANF, Vol. 3). Christian Literature Publishing Co. newadvent.org
Fronto, M. C. (1919). The correspondence of Marcus Cornelius Fronto (C. R. Haines, Trans.; Loeb Classical Library, 2 vols.). Wikisource. en.wikisource.org
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. (1944). The meditations of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus (A. S. L. Farquharson, Trans.). Wikisource. en.wikisource.org
Tacitus. (1876). The annals (A. J. Church & W. J. Brodribb, Trans.). Wikisource. en.wikisource.org
Tacitus. (1876). The histories (A. J. Church & W. J. Brodribb, Trans.). Wikisource. en.wikisource.org
Zosimus. (1814). New history (Historia Nova) (Anonymous, Trans.). Green and Chaplin. Hosted at The Tertullian Project. tertullian.org
Symmachus, Q. A. (1896). Relatio III: Memorial on the restoration of the Altar of Victory (H. de Romestin, E. de Romestin, & H. T. F. Duckworth, Trans.; P. Schaff & H. Wace, Eds.; NPNF, 2nd ser., Vol. 10). Early Church Texts. earlychurchtexts.com
Corpus: Roman Letters, compiled by Craig Vander Galien