Personally, I consider Titus Pomponius Atticus one of the most fascinating figures of the late Roman Republic. A prominent member of the equestrian order, he earned the nickname “Atticus” after living in Athens for twenty years beginning in 86 BC, both to pursue his studies and, above all, to distance himself from the first civil war between Marius and Sulla.

Sources frequently emphasize Atticus’s generosity. Through his activities as a moneylender, he was known to lend funds without excessively burdening his debtors with interest, perhaps with the aim of more easily cultivating influential connections. Moreover, he was an active adherent of the Epicurean school and a promoter of literary works on multiple levels.

Atticus is best remembered as a lifelong friend of Cicero, a bond that endured until Cicero’s death in December 43 BC, when he was proscribed by order of Antony because of his Philippics. True to his Epicurean beliefs, Atticus may have introduced Cicero to Lucretius’s masterpiece, De Rerum Natura. The extensive correspondence between the two offers invaluable insight into the turbulent decades that marked the end of the res publica, which Atticus observed with keen attention while resolutely refraining from any direct political engagement.

This cautious detachment, combined with his generosity, or rather his shrewdness, ultimately protected him during the violent political upheavals, likely saving his life on at least one occasion. By providing financial assistance to Antony’s relatives during the War of Modena, Atticus ensured that his name was excluded from the future lists of proscription, in which he might otherwise have appeared due to his substantial wealth. It is worth recalling that the triumviral proscriptions sought not only to eliminate die-hard republicans but also to seize new sources of revenue for the forthcoming campaign against Caesar’s assassins.

In the following years, Atticus strengthened his ties with Octavian through the marriage of his daughter Pomponia to Agrippa, Octavian’s right-hand man, and later through the union of his granddaughter Vipsania Agrippina with the future emperor Tiberius. Interestingly, Augustus maintained a regular correspondence with Atticus until his death in 32 BC at the age of seventy-seven. It is said that the princeps often inquired after his health, perhaps aware that the elderly equestrian, with his intimate connections to the late Cicero, possessed knowledge of many behind-the-scenes details of Roman politics, including matters that might have concerned Augustus himself.