ATT 



and Sylla; but endowed with a peculiar fuavltv of man. 

 ners, which made him uniformly averfe from civil conten- 

 tions, he retired to Athens with a great part of his pro- 

 pertv. and there devoted himfclf to ftudy, and particularly 

 to Grecian literature, in which he excelled his cotempora- 

 rics of his o«-n country. At Athens he became popular 

 by his conciliatory difpofition and condud, by tlie liberal 

 dillribution ot his money, and by his charity to the poor 

 and dirtrefTed. The Athenians wilhed to confer on him the 

 honour of a citizen, w' ' ' ' • •■ 

 1 



ft 



mediate!} mi uis oeparture, an event which occafloned 

 a general mourning through the city. The furname of 

 ^l/u-us, which he acquired from his attachment to this 

 city, and his familiarity with its language and manners, 

 became his ufual appellation during his life, and continued' 

 to diftinguilli him in after ages. At a diftance from tlie 

 fcene of political contention, he interelled himfelf in the 

 welfare of his friends ; and at the riik of difplcafinn- the 

 triumphant party, he ferved a friend in diilrefs, for hea^ited 

 young Marius, when declared a public enemy, by fupplying 

 him with money to efcape from his enemies. He even oc- 

 calionally made journies to Rome to fupport his friends in 

 contelled eleaions, and embraced ever)' opportunity tiiat 



ATT 





occurred of ferving thofe who needed 'his affillance. To 

 Cicero he was particulariy attaclied, partly from affinity, 

 as his fifter Pomponia was married to Q^iintus Cicero, but 

 chiefly from fimilarity of difpofition ; and lie f;:pplied him 

 with money in the time of his exile ; and alfo intimate 

 with Hortenfms, the rhetorical rival of Cicero, he exerted 

 himfelf in pieferving a good underilanding between the.-n. 

 When Rome was in a tranquil ftate, it was the place in which 

 Atticus chofe to refide ; but he never engaged in public bufi- 

 nefs. He availed himfelf of none of the <pportunities that 

 occui-red of increafing his fortune ; whilit he was honoured 

 with a nomination to public offices, he difregarded the 

 emoluments accruing from them. He never engaged in a 

 law-fuit, nor was ever concerned in an accufation as the 

 principal or fecond. He never bid for tllatcs at pubhc 

 auctions, or in any way partook of the fpoils of the un- 

 fortunate. When the war broke out between Ciefar and 

 Pompey, Atticus was fixty years old ; and his age was a 

 plea of which he availed himfelf for not taking part with 

 either ; and by his fubfequent conducl he offended neither 

 the one nor the other. After the death of Ca;far, whofe 

 favour he had conciliated, he fuccefsfully oppofed the e.la- 

 blilhment of a private treafure for the ufe of the party 

 which had taken him off, though he was upon very inti- 

 mate terms with Brutus. Neveithekfs, when Brutus and 

 Caffius were obliged to leave Italy, he fupplied Brutus with 

 a large fum of money. He afterwards exerted himielf to 

 the utmoft of his power in favour of Antony and his 

 family. Upon the return of Antony from his retreat, and 

 when every friend of the republican party was expofed to 

 great danger, Atticus withdrew into a place of refuge ; 

 and though Antony was urged to dcilroy him, he remem- 

 bered his obligations to his bcnefaftor, afTured him by a 

 Jetter written with his own hand of his fafcty, and ap- 

 pointed a guard for his protection. In this feafon of dif- 

 trefs, Atticus fuccoured the fallen party, ar.d fupphed the 

 neceflities of thofe who, under profcription, had fled to 

 Epirus, out of liis own eftatcs ; and he (hewed no lefs re- 

 fpe£l to Servilia the mother of Brutus, after the death of 

 this patriot, than he had done during his profperity. His 

 family afterwards became allied to the imperial family by 

 the maniage of bis daughter with M. Agrippa, the friend 



and favourite of Oaavius who formed with Atticut an 

 intimate acquaintance, and communicated to him all his 

 movements and def.gns. While Antony hved, an intimate 

 correlpondence was earned on between him and Alticus 

 1 hus fiom the firft to the laft, he maintained the charafttr 

 ot " tlie general fnend of all parties, in all fortunes." 

 1 he condud by which this character was acquired and 

 maintained has not efcapcd ccnfure ; and Atticus has been 

 charged with a neutrality and indifference, with reoard to 



nnhh^ ^rt.i^o.-.,.. ...k:-1. j-n ,, , • . , 



lole ana crin^^inal. 

 imbibed at Athens 



.... . , . . -ome have afcribcd 



the peculiarities of his temper, and the rcfolution by which 

 he fecms to have been aduatcd, that amidll the flufluation 

 and vieiffitudes of political events he would maintain a com- 

 pofed and tranqnil mind. But others have attributed his 

 dilcnminating character to natural difpofition and early 

 habits, more than to any fpeculative principles. In domcftic 

 life, as well as in the more extended circle of focial inter- 

 courie, he pofllfT.d a degree of felf-command, which, all 

 circumllances confidered, appears to have bee-n very extra- 

 ordinan- and fingular. The temper of his uncle Cicilius w-»s 

 nitolerably pcrvcrfe, and yet Atticus humoured it in fuch a 

 manner that he retained his favour to the lad, and inherited 

 the greatcfl; part of his very- large fortune. With his mother, 

 who died at the age of t,o, when he was 67 years old, and 

 with his filler, who was neariy of the fame age with himfelf 

 he lived with a harmony fo' uninterrupted, that he never 

 had occafion to be reconciled to the former, nor ever had 

 any quarrel with the latter. By his own patrimony and 

 his uncle's bcqueft, he was mafter of a large fortune, which 

 he expended with liberality. His mode of living corre- 

 fponded to his affluence, and to his taile and habits, as a 

 man of literature and philofophy. His domeP.ics were 

 feled, but not numerous; feveral of them had been b. m 

 and brought up in his own family ; and many of them 

 were in one way or other as readers or copyills, cmploytd 

 to the purpofcs of literature. His table was elegant, but 

 not collly. Reading was always an accempaniinent of the 

 fuppcr; and he had nognelisto whom fueh an entertainment 

 was not acceptable. In his enjoyments he was moderate; 

 in his ftudics, which formed a great part of his occupation, 

 he was particularly attached to inquiries relative to the 

 antiquities of his countrv- ; its laws, treaties, culloms, and 

 the genealogies of its illuflrious families. On thefe fub- 

 jeds he wrote feveral treatifes, which were held in high 

 eftimation. His poetical talents were employed in concife 

 delcnptioiis of the charaders and adions of illullrious men, 

 which were placed under their tlatues. He wrote in Greek 

 a hiftory ot the coiifulatc of his friend Cicero. Of the 

 writings of Atticus, none remain ; but we have a large 

 number of the letters of Cicero, addreffcd to him, and 

 written from the year of his coiifullhip almofl to the time 

 of his death. Thefe letters are confidential, and contain 

 a variety of curious particulars; both political and literary-. 

 Atticus having attained to the age of 77, with little inter- 

 ruption of health, was fcized with a diforder of the intcf- 

 tines, which terminated in a painful and incurable ulcer. 

 Apprized of the danger of his cafe, he communicated to his 

 fon-in-law Agrippa, and other friends, his rcfolution of 

 putting a period to a life that was no longer valuable to 

 himfelf and others. Unmoved by their rciiionftranccs, he 

 determined to abllain from food , and though his fever 

 left him and his pain abated, after an abtlinenccof twodavs, 

 he perfirted in his puipofe, and on the fifth day, death clofcd 

 the fcene, in the year of Rome 721, B.C. 33. Com. 

 Gen. Diet. Gen. Biog. 



Attici-.;, 



Ncpos in Vit. Attici. 



