Pomponius
1.
Lucius Pomponius Bononiensis, i. e. of Bononia (Bologna), a Latin
writer who flourished about B.C. 90. He was the first to raise the hitherto improvised
popular plays called
Atellanae (q. v.) to a higher plane by the introduction
of written composition in the metrical forms of the Greeks. He is particularly praised for
richness of fancy, liveliness in plays upon words, and readiness in the use of rustic and
farcical language (Vel. Pat. ii. 9.6; Macrob.
Sat. vi. 9.4;
Controv. vii. 18.9). About seventy titles
of plays by him are mentioned, a productiveness explained by the small compass of the
Atellanae as being after-pieces. Some titles point to travesties of mythological subjects,
such as the
Agamemnon Suppositus and the
Armorum Iudicium. The
fragments are edited by Ribbeck in his
Comicorum Romanorum Fragmenta
(Leipzig, 1873). See Ribbeck,
Röm. Dichter. i. 210.
2.
Titus Pomponius Attĭcus. See
Atticus.
3.
Lucius Pomponius Secundus. The most important tragedian of the
time of the Empire, probably the last who wrote for the stage. He lived under Tiberius and
was a partisan of Seianus, after whose fall (A.D. 31) he had to submit to be kept in custody
by his brother for six years, until Caligula gave him his freedom. In 44 he was consul; in 50
he fought with success against the Chatti, and received triumphal honours from Claudius. His
poetical productions are highly spoken of by Tacitus (
Ann. xii. 28) and Quintilian (x. 1.98). We possess only very scanty
remains of his tragedies.
4.
Pomponius Mela. See
Mela.
5.
Sextus Pomponius. A distinguished jurist of the first half of the
second century A.D. He composed, among other works, a history of law and jurisprudence down
to the time of Hadrian, which is frequently quoted in the
Digest.
6.
Pomponius Porphyrio. A Roman grammarian, who lived in the first
half of the second century A.D., and composed a commentary on Horace, a fragmentary
abridgment of which is still preserved, and is edited by Meyer
(Leipzig, 1874).
