The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is consistently one of the best-selling philosophy books among the general public. Over the years, it has also attracted a number of famous admirers, from the Prussian king Frederick the Great to US president Bill Clinton.1 It continues to attract large numbers of new readers, drawn to its reflections on life and death. Despite this, it is not the sort of text read much by professional philosophers or even, until recently, taken especially seriously by specialists in ancient philosophy. It is a highly personal, easily accessible, yet deceptively simple work.

On the face of it, what we find are a series of notebook jottings, reminders that Marcus has written to himself, comments on events that have happened to him, reflections on his own mortality, and a few quotations from things that he has been reading. There is little in the way of structure and a good deal of repetition.