Wikidata as a Knowledge Base for People of the Greco-Roman World

We explore the potential of Wikidata as a knowledge base (KB) for individuals associated with the Greco-Roman world, focusing on both the discoverability of relevant records and the current state of coverage. We develop a SPARQL query that combines multiple parameters to retrieve approximately 30,000 individuals and we propose several strategies to enhance the findability of the records. To assess coverage, we first compare the query results to a random sample of individuals described in the Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (Pauly–Wissowa), and then we evaluate how well Wikidata represents named individuals found in a corpus of ancient Greek and Latin texts.