§1.1T. Pomponius Atticus, ab origine ultima stirpis Romanae generatus, perpetuo a maioribus acceptam equestrem obtinuit dignitatem.
Titus Pomponius Atticus, descended from the remotest origin of the Roman stock, maintained the equestrian dignity inherited continuously from his ancestors.
§1.2patre usus est diligente et, ut tum erant tempora, diti inprimisque studioso litterarum.
He had a father who was industrious and, as times then went, wealthy, and above all, devoted to literature.
hic, prout ipse amabat litteras, omnibus doctrinis, quibus puerilis aetas impertiri debet, filium erudivit.
This father, in proportion to his own love for letters, instructed his son in all those branches of learning with which a boy's age ought to be imbued.
§1.3erat autem in puero praeter docilitatem ingenii summa suavitas oris atque vocis, ut non solum celeriter acciperet quae tradebantur, sed etiam excellenter pronuntiaret.
Moreover, there was in the boy, besides a docility of disposition, an extreme sweetness of countenance and voice, so that he not only quickly grasped what was taught, but also pronounced it excellently.
qua ex re in pueritia nobilis inter aequales ferebatur clariusque exsplendescebat, quam generosi condiscipuli animo aequo ferre possent.
For this reason, he was celebrated in his boyhood among his equals and shone forth more brightly than his well-born schoolfellows could bear with an equal mind.
§1.4itaque incitabat omnes studio suo, quo in numero fuerunt L. Torquatus, C. Marius filius, M. Cicero: quos consuetudine sua sic devinxit, ut nemo iis perpetua vita fuerit carior.
And so he stimulated them all by his own zeal, in whose number were Lucius Torquatus, Caius Marius the son, and Marcus Cicero; whom he so bound to himself by his familiarity that no one was dearer to them through their whole lives.