72 



A T TICU S. 



vourite, and retained their friendship to the end of 

 life. 



Having lost his father when young, and the civil 

 commotions now beginning, between the parties of 

 China and Sylla, in which he had already lost an un- 

 cle ; Aniens resolved when yet a youth, to abandon, 

 for a time, the scene of tumult and danger, and to re- 

 tire with the greater part of his fortune to Athens, 

 then the asylum of learning and refinement. Here, 

 amid the groves of the Academy, he indulged the ele- 

 gant propensities of his genius, and made such distin- 

 guished progress in his acquaintance with the Greek 

 language, that he wrote and spoke it with the same 

 propriety as a native. It was from this circumstance, 

 together with his long residence at Athens, that lie 

 obtained the surname of Atticus, a designation of 

 which he seems to have been proud, and that by 

 which the children of his friends were taught to speak 

 of him. Cicero ends one of his letters to him thus : 

 Kixcfftiy i ftix^o; xtntaZfTttt Tito Alwaioi : " The little 

 Cicero salutes Titus the Athenian." 



The amiable qualities of his heart soon endeared 

 Atticus to the Athenian people. His deportment 

 was such, that while accessible to the humblest, he 

 lost nothing of his dignity, but was on a level with 

 the highest. His prudence was so well known, that 

 his advice was solicited by the magistrates ; while his 

 purse was open to all, and the poorest of the people 

 hailed him as their benefactor. He frequently re-, 

 lieved the embarrassments of the state, by advancing 

 large sums of money without interest ; thus saving 

 the public from falling into the hands of usurers and 

 extortioners ; and on some occasion he distributed 

 among the people large quantities of corn, with a li- 

 berality truly magnificent. Having continued for 

 many years at Athens, dividing his time between the 

 duties of hii household, the pursuits of literature, the 

 affairs of th&fjty, and the interest of his friends, to 

 many of wfefim he extended assistance when absent, 

 he at last found the opportunity, which he had long 

 desired, of returning to his native country. 



On the return of tranquillity, accordingly, he took 

 his departure from Athens. On this occasion, he re- 

 ceived one of the finest compliments ever paid to a 

 private individual ; for the whole Athenian people 

 assembled to witness his departure, and testified by 

 their tears the genuine sorrow with which they were 

 moved ; and in his absence they did, what he had 

 prevented with much difficulty while present ; they 

 erected statues in honour of him and his wife Pilia, 

 in the most sacred parts of the city. This honour, 

 it is probable, was not conferred on him till many 

 years after his departure, since he was turned of 50 

 before he was married. 



Thus loaded with the genuine honours of respect 

 and gratitude, Atticus returned to enjoy the society 

 of his early friends, who were now leading characters 

 in the state. His school-fellow L. Torquatus was 

 that year consul : Hortensius, his intimate friend, made 

 a great limine as a public orator ; as did also M. T. 

 Cicero. It was difficult to say which of these two 

 loved him most ; and it is mentioned as a singular in- 

 stance of his delicate management, that though they 

 frequently met in his company, these rival orators 

 never gave vent to that acrimony of speech, which 



was natural to two angry competitor? for public ap- 

 plause. His connection with Cicero was, if possible, 

 rendered still more intimate by the marriage of Q. 

 Cicero, the brother of the orator, with Pomponia the 

 sister of Atticus. Of this match, which was brought 

 about by Cicero, frequent mention is made in the let- 

 ters of that orator to Atticus. These, consisting of 

 sixteen books, are still extant ; and for sprightliness 

 of wit, accuracy of political information, and expres- 

 sions of ardent and genuine friendship, they may be 

 safely opposed to any epistolary collection in exist- 

 ence. 



The paternal inheritance of Atticus was ample, 

 though not splendid. But on the death of his uncle 

 Cj. Cheilitis, his fortune received a considerable ac- 

 cession. This old man was of a remarkably peevish 

 disposition, insomuch that few could bear his humour; 

 but Atticus so won upon him by iiis dutiful atten- 

 tions, that he adopted him as his son, and left him an 

 inheritance of 10,000,000 sesterces, or near j100,000 

 sterling. The unsettled state of affairs at home, and 

 his long relegation at Athens, prevented him from 

 marrying till considerably advanced in life. His wife's 

 name was Pilia ; but who she was, or what were her 

 connections, no author has mentioned. By this mar- 

 riage he had a daughter Pomponia, who was married 

 to Agrippa the favourite of Augustus : and his grand- 

 daughter again by this marriage was betrothed by 

 command of Augustus, almost as soon as she was 

 born, to Tiberius, who was afterwards emperor. No- 

 thing can be more decisive of the high consideration 

 in which Atticus was held, and of his extensive though 

 secret influence in the state, than this alliance into 

 which he was pressed with the family of the Caesars. 



In his political life Atticus pursued a line of con- 

 duct which would not have been tolerated by the law 

 of Solon ; for in all the disturbances which took 

 place at Rome during that eventful period, he so ma- 

 naged matters, that he was seldom implicated on either 

 side. His friendship for Cicero, it is true, induced 

 him to violate this principle of neutrality to a certain 

 extent ; and he had no hesitation to declare himself 

 openly against such a character as Catiline. But, in 

 general, such was his attachment to peace and repose, 

 that even in his boyish days, nothing could prevail 

 upon him to enlist under the banners of faction. This 

 firm adherence to professed principle could not well 

 be displeasing to either party ; for though he should 

 happen, as he sometimes did, to give private assistance 

 to one, yet this was ascribed by the other to private 

 friendship, and not to his approbation of political 

 conduct. Hence it happened that Atticus was al- 

 ways courted by the two hostile factions at the same 

 time. Thus, while he relieved the wants of the ex- 

 iled Marius, he was at that very time caressed by 

 Sylla. Though he furnished some of his private 

 friends with money, who were devoted to Pompey's 

 cause, yet Cxsar was so little displeased at this, that 

 he applauded the neutrality of Atticus : and, after 

 his victory at Pharsalia, while that conqueror made 

 large demands on the rich citizens for money, he not 

 only never molested Atticus, but, on his account, 

 pardoned his nephew, who had carried arms against 

 him. 



Atticus was always a powerful advocate for mode- 

 o 



Atticus 

 Titus. 



