Att. 1.1T. Pompōnius Atticus, ab orīgine ultimā stirpis Rōmānae generātus, perpetuō ā maiōribus acceptam equestrem obtinuit dignitātem.Titus Pomponius Atticus, descended from the most ancient origins of the Roman race, kept the equestrian rank which he had received in unbroken succession from his ancestors. Att. 1.2Patre ūsus est dīligente et, ut tum erant tempora, dītī inprīmīsque studiōsō litterārum.He had a father who was diligent and, as times then were, rich, and above all devoted to literature. Att. 1.2Hic, prōut ipse amābat litterās, omnibus doctrīnīs, quibus puerīlis aetās impertīrī dēbet, fīlium ērudīvit.This man, as he himself loved literature, educated his son in all the branches of learning in which boyhood ought to be instructed. Att. 1.3Erat autem in puerō praeter docilitātem ingeniī summa suāvitās ōris atque vōcis, ut nōn sōlum celeriter acciperet quae trādēbantur, sed etiam excellenter prōnūntiāret.But besides a quick and teachable mind, the boy had the greatest charm of speech and voice, so that he not only grasped rapidly what was taught him but also delivered it excellently. Att. 1.3Quā ex rē in pueritiā nōbilis inter aequālēs ferēbātur clāriusque exsplendēscēbat, quam generōsī condiscipulī animō aequō ferre possent.For this reason in his boyhood he was spoken of as distinguished among his contemporaries, and he shone out more brightly than his high-born schoolfellows could bear with equanimity.
Att. 1.4Itaque incitābat omnēs studiō suō, quō in numerō fuērunt L. Torquātus, C. Marius fīlius, M. Cicerō: quōs cōnsuētūdine suā sīc dēvīnxit, ut nēmō iīs perpetuā vītā fuerit cārior.And so he spurred them all on by his own zeal; among their number were Lucius Torquatus, Gaius Marius the son, and Marcus Cicero: these he so bound to himself by his companionship that no one was dearer to them as long as they lived.