Atta

• a surname for persons who walk upon the tips of their shoes, Paul. ex Fest. p. 11 Müll. (prob. from ᾄττω = ᾄσσω, to spring, to hop). So the comic poet, C. Quintius Atta († 652 A.U.C.), of whose writings fragments yet remain; cf. Bähr, Lit. Gesch. p. 71; Teuffel, Röm. Lit. § 120; Both. Fragm. Poet. Scen. II. p. 97 sq.; Fest. l. l. Upon the signif. of the name Horace plays with the words: Recte necne crocum floresque perambulet Attae Fabula, si dubitem, etc., Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 79; cf. Weich. Poet. Lat. p. 345 sq.—The ancestor of the Gens Claudia was an Atta, Suet. Tib. 1.

a Roman comic poet, of whom very little more is known than that he died at Rome in B. C. 78, and was buried at the second milestone on the Praenestine road. (Hieronym. in Euseb. Chron. Ol. 175, 3.) His surname Atta was given him, according to Festus (s. v.), from a defect in his feet, to which circumstance many commentators suppose that Horace alludes in the lines (Ep. 2.1. 79), Recte, necne, crocum floresque perambulet Attae Fabula, si dubitem but the joke is so poor and far-fetched, that we are unwilling to father it upon Horace. It appears, however, from this passage of Horace, that the plays of Atta were very popular in his time. Atta is also mentioned by Fronto (p. 95, ed. Rom.); but the passage of Cicero (pro Sestio, 51), in which his name occurs, is evidently corrupt. Works

The comedies of Atta belonged to the class called by the Roman grammarians togatae tabernariac (Diomedes, iii. p. 487, ed. Putsch), that is, comedies in which Roman manners and Roman persons were introduced. The titles and a few fragments of the following plays of Atta have come down to us: Aedilicia (Gel. 7.9; Diomed. iii. p. 487) Aquae Calidae (Non. Marc. p. 133. 11, 139. 7) Conciliatrix (Gell. 7.9) Lucubratio (Non. Marc. p. 468. 22) Materterg, though this was probably written by Afranius, and is wrongly ascribed to Atta (Schol. Cruqu. ad Hor. Ep. 2.1. 80) Megalesia (Serv. ad Virg. Ed. 7.33) Socrus (Priscian, vii. p. 764) Supplicatio Editions

The fragments of Atta are collected by Bothe, in Poet. Scen. Lat. vol. v. par. ii. p. 97, &c.; compare Weichert, Poet. Lat. Reliquiae, p. 345. Further Information

Macr. 2.14); Tiro Proficiscens. (Priscian, viii. p. 828.)

or Quinticius. A Roman dramatic poet, author of togatae (see Comoedia), who died B.C. 77, and was a contemporary of Afranius. He was celebrated for his power of drawing character, especially in conversational scenes in which women were introduced. Of his comedies only twelve titles remain, with a few insignificant fragments, which will be found in Ribbeck, Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis Fragmenta.