ATTICUS, TITUS POMPONIUS B.c.), Roman patron of letters, was born at Rome three years before Cicero, with whom he was educated. His name was Titus Pomponius, that of Atticus being given him afterwards from his long resi dence in Athens (86-65) and his intimate acquaintance with the Greek literature and language. When Pomponius was still a young man his father died, and he prudently transferred himself and his fortune to Athens, in order to escape the civil war, in which he might have been involved through his connection with the murdered tribune, Sulpicius Rufus. Here he lived in retire ment, devoting himself entirely to study. On his return to Rome, he assumed the name of Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus. From this time he kept aloof from political strife, attaching himself to no particular party, and continuing on intimate terms with men so opposed as Caesar and Pompey, Antony and Octavian. His most intimate friend, however, was Cicero, whose correspondence with him extended over many years. His private life was tranquil and happy. He did not marry till he was S3 years of age, and his only child became the wife of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, the distinguished minister of Augustus. In 32, being seized with an illness believed to be incurable, he starved himself to death. Of his writings none is extant, but mention is made of two : a Greek history of Cicero's consulship, and some annals forming an epitome of Roman history down to the year 54. His most im portant work was his edition of the letters addressed to him by Cicero. He formed a large library at Athens, and engaged a staff of slaves to make copies of valuable works.
See Life by Cornelius Nepos; Berwick, Lives of Messalla Corvinus and T.P.A. (1813) ; Fialon, Thesis in T.P.A. (1861) ; Boissier, Ciceron et ses amis (1888; Eng. trans. A. D. Jones, 1897) ; W. H. How, Cicero: Select Letters (Oxford, 1926) vol. ii. Appendix ii. A translation of Cicero's Letters to Atticus by E. O. Winstadt is published in the Loeb Classical Library (1912) .