Att. 4.1Hūc ex Asiā Sulla dēcēdēns cum vēnisset, quamdiū ibi fuit, sēcum habuit Pompōnium, captus adulēscentis et hūmānitāte et doctrīnā.When Sulla, on his way back from Asia, had come here, as long as he was there he kept Pomponius with him, captivated by the young man's culture and learning alike. Att. 4.1Sīc enim Graecē loquēbātur, ut Athēnīs nātus vidērētur;For he spoke Greek in such a way that he seemed to have been born at Athens; Att. 4.1tanta autem suāvitās erat sermōnis Latīnī, ut appārēret in eō nātīvum quendam lepōrem esse, nōn ascītum.and the charm of his Latin speech was so great that it was clear that there was in it a certain native grace, not an acquired one. Att. 4.1Īdem poēmata prōnūntiābat et Graecē et Latīnē sīc, ut suprā nihil posset addī.He also recited poems both in Greek and in Latin so well that nothing could be added to improve on it. Att. 4.2Quibus rēbus factum est ut Sulla nūsquam eum ab sē dīmitteret cuperetque sēcum dēdūcere.Because of these things it came about that Sulla would never let him go from his side and wanted to take him away with him.
Att. 4.2Cui cum persuādēre tentāret, "nōlī, ōrō tē," inquit Pompōnius "adversum eōs mē velle dūcere, cum quibus nē contrā tē arma ferrem, Ītaliam relīquī.When he tried to persuade him, 'Do not, I beg you,' said Pomponius, 'seek to lead me against those men in whose company I left Italy, so as not to bear arms against you.' Att. 4.2' at Sulla adulēscentis officiō collaudātō omnia mūnera eī, quae Athēnīs accēperat, proficīscēns iussit dēferrī.But Sulla, praising the young man's sense of duty, ordered all the gifts which he had received at Athens to be brought to him as he was setting out. Att. 4.3Hīc complūrēs annōs morātus, cum et reī familiārī tantum operae daret, quantum nōn indīligēns dēbēret pater familiās, et omnia reliqua tempora aut litterīs aut Athēniēnsium reī pūblicae tribueret, nihilō minus amīcīs urbāna officia praestitit.Having stayed here for a good many years, while he both gave as much attention to his estate as a not unconscientious head of a household ought, and devoted all the rest of his time either to literature or to the public affairs of the Athenians, he none the less rendered his friends the services they needed in the city.
Att. 4.4Nam et ad comitia eōrum ventitāvit et, sī qua rēs maior ācta est, nōn dēfuit.For he came often to their elections and, if any matter of greater importance was transacted, he was not absent. Att. 4.4Sīcut Cicerōnī in omnibus eius perīculīs singulārem fidem praebuit: cui ex patriā fugientī sēstertium ducenta et quīnquāgintā mīlia dōnāvit.So too he showed singular loyalty to Cicero in all his dangers: when Cicero was fleeing from his country he gave him two hundred and fifty thousand sesterces. Att. 4.5Tranquillātīs autem rēbus Rōmānīs remigrāvit Rōmam, ut opīnor L. Cottā L. Torquātō cōnsulibus: quem discēdentem sīc ūniversa cīvitās Athēniēnsium prōsecūta est, ut lacrimīs dēsīderiī futūrī dolōrem indicāret.When Roman affairs had settled down, he moved back to Rome, in the consulship, I believe, of Lucius Cotta and Lucius Torquatus: and when he departed the whole city of the Athenians escorted him in such a way that by their tears they showed their grief at the loss they were to feel.