Atticus, Titus Pomponius (109–32 BC)

Roman literary patron, financier, and publisher. His was a close friend of the orator Cicero, whose correspondence with him (68–43 BC) is an invaluable record of the times.

Atticus was originally named Titus Pomponius, until his adoption by a maternal uncle Quintus Caecilius, after which he was officially named Quintus Caecilius Pomponius. He was given the nickname Atticus because he lived in Athens for 20 years, about 85–65 BC. When he returned to Rome, he kept aloof from politics and was therefore able to befriend leading members of all parties.

Atticus married Pilia 56 BC and they had a daughter, Pomponia, who became the first wife of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and mother of the first wife of the emperor Tiberius, Vipsania. He starved himself to death when attacked by an incurable disease.