Marcus Aurelius was the Roman emperor who, instead of just enjoying life in the palace, decided to philosophise about how to deal with the difficulties of life. Born in 121 AD, he was adopted by the emperor Antoninus Pius, ascended the throne in 161 and spent a good part of his reign managing crises - plagues, wars and conspiracies, a veritable stoic chaos.

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In the midst of all this, he wrote ‘Meditations’, a philosophical diary in which he basically teaches that complaining is no use and that the important thing is to maintain dignity, even when everything goes wrong. He died in 180 AD, leaving a legacy of wisdom that, ironically, was ignored by his son Commodus, one of Rome's worst emperors. Life has its ironies, but Marcus Aurelius would certainly have handled it with serenity.