Demosthenes

About Demosthenes

Demosthenes, an Athenian statesman and one of the greatest ancient Greek orators, is ranked #958 in historical importance by MIT's Pantheon project due to his fervent opposition to Philip II of Macedon. His powerful speeches, known as the Philippics, represent a high-water mark for classical rhetoric and political conviction in the face of rising Macedonian hegemony, making him a pivotal, albeit tragic, figure in the decline of the Greek city-states.

In the modern digital landscape, Demosthenes exhibits an attention gap suggesting he is largely forgotten online. With a historical importance rank of #958, he commands only about 193K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. This places his online attention considerably behind contemporaries in the political field, such as Babur (#976 importance) who secures 1.1M views, or even Louis the Pious (#991 importance) at 329K views. His attention is roughly 1x what his importance suggests, indicating relative obscurity compared to other highly-ranked historical peers who draw significantly more traffic.

While his annual views are stable, his recent momentum shows a slight -11% dip between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, hinting at a minor but persistent decline in current digital interest.