4. M'.Curius, one of the most intimate friends of Cicero, who had known him from his childhood, and describes him as one of the kindest of men, always ready to serve his friends, and as a very pattern of politeness (urbanitas). He lived for several years as a negotiator at Patrae in Peloponnesus. At the time when Tiro, Cicero's freedman, was ill at Patrae, B. C. 50 and subsequently, Curius took great care of him. In B. C. 46, Cicero recommended Curius to Serv. Sulpicius, who was then governor of Achaia, and also to Auctus, his successor. The intimacy between Curius and Atticus was still greater than that between Cicero and Curius; and the latter is said to have made a will
904
in which Atticus and Cicero were to be the heirs of his property, Cicero receiving one-fourth, and Atticus the rest. Among Cicero's letters to his friends there are three addressed to Curius (7.23-26), and one (7.29) is addressed by Curius to Cicero. (Cic. ad Fam. 8.5, 6, 13.7, 17, 50, 16.4, 5, 9, 11, ad Att. 7.2, 3, 16.3.)