Atticus, Titus Pomponius 110-32BC
Roman intellectual, businessman and writer

He was born in Rome, of a wealthy family, and educated with Cicero and Gaius Marius the Younger. He acquired the surname Atticus because of his long residence in Athens (85-65BC) to avoid the civil war. In 32 he was informed that a disorder he suffered from was terminal, and he died after five days of voluntary starvation. He was a wealthy and highly cultivated man who espoused the Epicurean philosophy and combined his literary activities with a successful business career. He amassed a large library, wrote histories of Greece and Rome (now lost), and was an intimate friend of Cicero, who used him as an editor and consultant. Cicero's Letters to Atticus form a famous and prolific correspondence.