Titus Pomponius Atticus

Titus Pomponius Atticus (c. 110 – 31 March 32 BC; also known as Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus) is best known for his correspondence and close friendship with prominent Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero. Atticus, who was an editor, banker, and patron of letters, was from a wealthy Roman family of the equestrian class (lower aristocratic non-ruling class) and Pomponian ancestry.

Close friends since childhood, Cicero dedicated his work, Laelius de Amicitia (Latin for Treatises 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.

Born Titus Pomponius in Rome c. November 110 BC, Atticus descended from a family of equestrian rank and was the son of Titus Pomponius and Caecilia Metella. Growing up, he studied and developed close friendships with Cicero, Lucius Manlius Torquatus, and Gaius Marius the Younger. He is said to have been an excellent student, and in 85 BC, Atticus moved to Athens to further his education, particularly in philosophy. His love of Athens inspired his self-appointed nickname "Atticus", or "Man of Attica", which is mentioned in the fifth book of Cicero's De Finibus (section 4). During his visit to Athens, Julius Caesar was Atticus's guest.

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 slaves as scribes and taught them to make papyrus scrolls, allowing Atticus to publish, amongst other things, the works of his friend Cicero. His editions of Greek authors such as Plato, Demosthenes, and Aeschines were prized for their accuracy in the ancient world. None of Atticus's own writings have survived, but he is known to have written one book (in Ancient Greek) on Cicero's consulship, the Liber Annalis (a work on Roman chronology),and a small amount of Roman poetry.

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