Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/433

Rh ATTICUS. roluntary starvation, when he found that ha wns attacked by an incuriible illness. His wife Pilia, to whom he was married on the 12th of February, B. c 5, when he was fifty-three years of age, bore him only one child, a daughter, Pomponia or Caecilia, whom Cicero sometimes calls Attica and Atticula. {Ad Att. vi. 5, xii. .1, xiii. 5, &c.) Through the influence of Antony, Pomponia was nian-ied in the life-time of her father, probably in u. c. 3, to M. Vipsanius Agrippa, the minister of Augustus ; and the issue of this marriage, Vipsania Agrippina, was married to Tiberius, afterwards emperor, by whom she became the mother of Drusus. The sister of Atticus, Pomponia, was married to Q. Cicero, the brother of the orator ; but the marriage was not a happy one, and the quarrels of Pomponia and her husband gave considerable trouble and vexation to Atticus and M. Cicero. The life of Atticus by Cornelius Nepos, of which the greater part was composed while Atticus was still alive {Xcpos, 19), is to be regarded rather as a panegyric upon an intimate friend (Nepos, 13, is-c; comp. Cic. ad Att. xvi. 5, 14), than strictly (^peaking a biography. According to Nepos, the jiersonal character of Atticus was faultless ; and though we cannot trust implicitly to the partial statements of his panegyrist, yet Atticus could not have gained and preserved the affection of so many of his contemporaries without possessing amiable qualities of no ordinary kind. In philosophy Atticus belonged to the Epicurean sect, and had studied it under Phaedrus, Zenon, and Patron, in Athens, and Saufeius, in Rome. His studies, however, were by no means confined to philosophy. He was thoroughly acquainted with the whole circle of Greek and Roman literature ; he spoke and wrote Greek like a native, and was a thorough master of his own language. So high an opinion was entertained of his taste and critic<il acumen, that many of his friends, especially Cicero, were accustomed to send him their works for revi- sion and correction, and were most anxious to se- cure his approbation and favour. It is therefore the more to be regretted that none of his own writ- ings have come down to us. Of these the most important was one in a single book, entitled An- nalis, which contained an epitome of Roman his- tory from the earliest period to his own time, ar- ranged according to years. (Cic. ad Ait. xii. 23, Orat. 34 ; Ascon. in Pison. p. 13, in Cornel, p. 76, ed. Orelli; Nepos, //anmi. 13, Attic. 8.) This work was particularly valuable for the history of the ancient Roman families ; and he had such an intimate acquaintance with this subject, that he was requested by many of his con torn poniries to draw up genealogical tables of their families, speci- fying with dates the various public offices which each had held. He accordingly drew up such ta- bles for the Junii, Marcelli, Fabii, Aemilii, and others ; and he also wrote inscriptions in verse to be placed under the statues of distinguished men, in which he happily described in four or five lines their achievements and public offices. In addition to these, we have frequent mention of his letters, and of a history of Cicero's consulship, in Greek, written in a plain and inartificial style. (Cic. ad. AH. ii. 1.) Atticus was very wealthy. His father left him two millions of sesterces, and his uncle Caecilius about ten (Nepos, 5, 14); and this property he greatly increased by his mercantile speculations. ATTILA. 415 Rcing a member of the equestrian order, he was able to invest large sums of money in the various corporations which farmed the public revenues ; and he also derived great profits from advancing his money upon interest. In addition to this, he was economical in ail his habits ; his monthly expendi- ture was small, and his slaves brought him in a considerable sum of money. He had a large number carefully educated in his own house, whom he employed in transcribing books. He was thus enabled to procure a library for himself at a compa- ratively small cost, and to supply the public with books at a profit. Atticus, in fact, neglected no means of making money. We read, for instance, of his purchasing a set of gladiators, in order to let them out to magistrates and others who wished to exhibit games. (Cic. ad Att. iv, 4, b.) (Hiillemann, Diatribe, in T. Pomponium Atticum, Traj. ad Rhen. 1838; Dramann's /?07«, vol. v.) A'TTICUS, C. QUI'NCTIUS, consul suffectus from the first of November, a. d. 6.9, declared iir favour of Vespasian at Rome, and with the other partis<in3 of Vespasian seized the Capitol. Here they were attacked by the soldiers of Vitellius ; the Capitol was burnt down, and Atticus, with most of the other leaders of his party, taken prisoner. Atticus was not put to death by Vitel- lius ; and probably in order to obtain the pardon of the emperor, he admitted that he had set fire to the Capitol, as Vitellius was anxious that his party should not bear the odium of this deed. (Tac. Hid. iii. 73 — 75 ; Dion Cass. Ixv. 17.) A'TTICUS, M. VESTI'NUS, was consul in the year (a. d. Qo) in which the conspiracy of Piso was formed against Nero. Atticus was a man of firm character, and possessed great natural talents ; Piso was afraid lest he might restore liberty or proclaim some one emperor. Although innocent he was put to death by Nero on the detection of the conspiracy. Atticus had been very intimate with the emperor, but had incurred his hatred, as he had taken no pains to disguise the contempt in which he held the emperor. He had still further increased the emperor's hatred by marrying Statilia Messallina, although he knew that Nero was among her lovers. (Tac. Ann. xv. 48, 52, 68, 69.) A'TTICUS, VIPSA'NIUS, a disciple of Apol- lodorus of Pergamus. (Senec. Controv. ii. 13. p. 184.) As he is mentioned only in this passage of Seneca, his name has given rise to considerable dispute. Spalding (ad Quintil. iii. 1. § 18) conjec- tures that he was the son of M. Vipsanius Agrippa, who married the daughter of T. Pomponius ylrt/tvw, and that he had the surname of Atticus in honour of his grandfather. Frandsen {M. Vipsanius Agrippa., p. 228), on the other hand, supposes hiia to have been the father of Vipsanius Agrippa. But both of these conjectures are unsupported by any evidence, and are in themselves improbable. We are more inclined to adopt Weichert's opinion {Caes. Augusti., ^c. Reliquae, p. 83), that, consider- ing the imperfect state of Seneca's text, we ought to read Dionysius in this passage instead of Vip- sanius. [Atticus, Dionysius.] (Comp. Piderit, De Apollodorn Pcrgameno, ^c p. 16, &c.) A'TTILA ('AtttjAos or 'AttIAm, German, J^Ttec/, Hungarian, Ethele)* king of the Huns, remarkable these were all German titles of honour given to him.
 * Jjudcn ( Tctitsch. Gesch. ii. p. 568) conjectures that