Titus Pomponius Atticus

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Titus Pomponius Atticus
Born
Titus Pomponius
Other namesQuintus Caecilius Pomponianus Atticus
SpousePilia
ChildrenAttica
Parents

Titus Pomponius Atticus (November 110 BC – 31 March 32 BC; later named Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus Atticus)

equestrian class (lower aristocratic non-ruling class) and from the Pomponia gens
.

A close friend since childhood, Cicero dedicated his treatise, Laelius de Amicitia (Latin for 'Laelius on Friendship'), to Atticus. Their correspondence, often written in subtle code to disguise their political observations, is preserved in Epistulae ad Atticum (Letters to Atticus) compiled by Tiro, Cicero's slave (later his freedman) and personal secretary.

Biography

Early life

Born Titus Pomponius in Rome c. November 110 BC,

Pomponia
.

Atticus' father supported his education. Among his school friends were three consuls: Cicero (consul in 63 BC),

Gaius Marius the Younger (consul in 82).[5] Cicero was educated by tutors chosen by the famous orator Lucius Licinius Crassus; Atticus may have been part of this grouping as well.[6] He is said to have been an excellent student; his education, evidenced by his school friends' political careers, would have prepared him well for Roman public life.[7]

Atticus left Rome, probably to escape civil strife, in 86 BC. According to his biographer Nepos, Atticus was a distant relation of the plebeian tribune

De Finibus.[10] During his visit to Athens, Julius Caesar was Atticus's guest.[citation needed
]

Career

Cicero with his friend Atticus and brother Quintus, at his villa at Arpinum. (Richard Wilson, c. 1771)

Atticus inherited family money, which he successfully invested in real estate, enhancing his wealth. Using his income to support his love of letters, he had trained

Roman poetry.[12]

In 65 BC, Atticus returned from Athens to Rome. In keeping with his

optimates (the aristocratic party), and held generally conservative views. He was also a friend and partner of Marcus Licinius Crassus, a member of the First Triumvirate.[13]

Upon the death of his wealthiest maternal uncle

Syria.[14]

Atticus was friendly with the Liberators after the assassination of Julius Caesar but was not harmed following their defeat. According to Cornelius Nepos, he took care of Servilia after the death of her son Brutus at the Battle of Philippi.[15]

Marriage and children

In his later years, he married a relative, Pilia (c. 75 – 46 BC), daughter of Pilius and a maternal granddaughter of the

Attica, who became the first wife of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
.

Death

Atticus lived out the remainder of his life in Rome. Just after his 77th birthday he fell ill, and at first his ailment appeared minor. But after three months his health suddenly deteriorated. Deciding to accelerate the inevitable, he abstained from ingesting any nourishment, starving himself to death, and dying on the fifth day of such fasting, "which was the 31st March, in the consulship of Cn. Domitius and C. Sosius",[17] that is in the year 32 BC. He was buried at the family tomb located at the Fifth Mile of the Appian Way.[citation needed]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Shackleton Bailey 1999, p. 17
  2. ^ Shackleton Bailey 1999, p. 17. His birthday is not mentioned in the sources; modern estimates place it between November and 26 December 110 BC. Marshall 1986, p. 7.
  3. ^ Marshall 1986, p. 10. Caecilia was sister of the financier Quintus Caecilius who would later adopt Atticus. Marshall 1986, pp. 12–13. See also T. Pomponius (102) Atticus in the Digital Prosopography of the Roman Republic.
  4. ^ Marshall 1986, p. 9.
  5. ^ Marshall 1986, p. 15.
  6. ^ Marshall 1986, p. 16.
  7. ^ Marshall 1986, p. 21.
  8. ^ Marshall 1986, pp. 23–25.
  9. ^ Marshall 1986, pp. 28–29.
  10. male homosexuality and pederasty
    .
  11. ^ Lucian, The Ignorant Book Collector (2.24)
  12. ^ Cornelius Nepos, Life of Atticus (17)
  13. ^ Pierre Grimal, Les mémoires de Pomponius Atticus, Rome devant César, 1976, p. 93
  14. ^ Pierre Grimal, Les mémoires de Pomponius Atticus, Rome devant César, 1976, p. 171
  15. ISBN 9780199832385
    .
  16. ^ Rawson, E.: "Cicero, a portrait" (1975) p. 141
  17. ^ Cornelius Nepos, Life of Atticus (21–22)

References

Most of this information is derived from the

Excellentium Imperatorum Vitae and Attalus.org Life of Atticus of Cornelius Nepos, to which biographies of Cato and Atticus (discovered in a manuscript of Cicero's letters) were added by Peter Cornerus in the reign of Theodosius I.[clarification needed
]

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Titus Pomponius Atticus.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Titus_Pomponius_Atticus&oldid=1216646086"