Kingdom of Pergamon

Philetaerus was a lieutenant of Lysimachus, one of Alexander the Great's generals (diadochi), who ruled a large state centered around Byzantium. Philetaerus was trusted to manage the fortress of Pergamon and guard much of Lysimachus's treasury, and had 9,000 talents under his purview. At some point prior to 281 BC, Philetaerus deserted Lysimachus and rebelled, allegedly over fears of Arsinoe, Lysimachus's wife, who was accused of arranging the death of Agathocles, Lysimachus's son. In 281 BC, Seleucus I Nicator, another of Alexander's generals, defeated and killed Lysimachus at the Battle of Corupedium, while Seleucus himself was killed a few months later. Philetaerus offered his services to Seleucus and his successors of the Seleucid Empire, but enjoyed considerable autonomy.[1] He extended his power and influence beyond just the city of Pergamon, making allies with neighboring city states. He contributed troops, money, and food to the city of Cyzicus, in Mysia, for its defense against the invading Gauls, thus gaining prestige and goodwill for him and his family.[2] He built the temple of Demeter on the acropolis, the temple of Athena (Pergamon's patron deity), and Pergamon's first palace. He added considerably to the city's fortifications.[2]

Philetaerus' nephew and adopted son, Eumenes I, succeeded him upon his death in 263 BC. He rebelled and defeated the Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter near the Lydian capital of Sardis in 261 BC. He freed Pergamon, and greatly increased its territories. He established garrisons, such as Philetaireia, in the north at the foot of Mount Ida, which was named after his adoptive father, and Attaleia, in the east, to the northeast of Thyatira near the sources of the river Lycus, which was named after his grandfather. He also extended his control to the south of the river Caïcus, reaching the Gulf of Cyme. He minted coins with the portrait of Philetaerus, who during his reign had still been depicting the Seleucid king Seleucus I Nicator on his coins.

Pausanias wrote that the greatest achievement of Attalus I (r. 241–197 BC) was his defeat of the Gauls,[3] by which he meant the Galatians, Celts who had migrated to central Asia Minor and established themselves as a major military power. Several years later the Galatians attacked Pergamon with the help of Antiochus Hierax, who rebelled against his brother, the Seleucid king Seleucus II Callinicus, and wanted to seize Asia Minor and make it his independent kingdom. Attalus defeated the Gauls and Antiochus in the Battle of Aphrodisium and in a second battle in the east. He then fought Antiochus alone in a battle near Sardis and in the Battle of the Harpasus in Caria in 229 BC. After this Antiochus left to start a campaign in Mesopotamia, and then pivoted toward Thrace in 227 BC. He was killed in battle against the Gauls and the Kingdom of Tylis.[4] With Antiochus Hierax's death, Attalus gained control over all Seleucid territories in Asia Minor north of the Taurus Mountains. He repulsed several attempts by Seleucus III Ceraunus, who had succeeded Seleucus II, to recover the lost territory.[4]

In 223 BC, Seleucus III crossed the Taurus, but was assassinated, and the general Achaeus assumed control of the army. Antiochus III the Great made Achaeus governor of the Seleucid territories north of the Taurus. Within two years Achaeus had recovered the lost territories and forced Attalus to retreat within the walls of Pergamon. However, Achaeus himself turned on Antiochus III and proclaimed himself a king, perhaps because he was accused of intending to revolt anyway, or perhaps simply drunk with success. By 220/219 BC, Achaeus and Attalus seem to have made peace.[5][6][7]

In 218 BC, Achaeus undertook an expedition to Selge, south of the Taurus. Attalus recaptured his former territories with the help of some Thracian Gauls. Achaeus returned from his victorious campaign in 217 BC and hostilities between the two resumed. Attalus made an alliance with Antiochus III, who besieged Achaeus in Sardis in 214 BC. Antiochus captured the city and put Achaeus to death in the next year. Attalus regained control over his territories.[5][8]

The Attalids became allies of the Roman Republic during the First Macedonian War (214–205 BC)[9][10] and supported Rome in subsequent wars. Attalus I, who had helped the Romans in the first war, also provided them with assistance in the Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC).[11][12]

Eumenes II (r. 197–159 BC)[13] supported Rome in the Roman–Seleucid War (192–188 BC)[14][15] and in the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) [16] In 188 BC, after the war's end, the Romans seized the possessions of the defeated Antiochus III in Asia Minor and gave Mysia, Lydia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia to the kingdom of Pergamon and Caria, Lycia and Pisidia, in the southwestern corner of Asia Minor, to Rhodes, another Roman ally. Later the Romans gave these possessions of Rhodes to Pergamon.

Before he became king, Attalus II was a military commander. In 190 BC he took part in the Battle of Magnesia, which was the final victory of the Romans in the war against the Seleucids. In 189 BC he led the Pergamene troops which flanked the Roman army under Gnaeus Manlius Vulso in the Galatian War. In 182–179 BC, he was at war with Pharnaces I of Pontus. He won victories and gained some territory. He acceded to the throne in 159 BC. In 156–154 BC he made war against Prusias II of Bithynia with the help of the Romans. In 154 BC he was also assisted by Ariarathes V of Cappadocia, who provided troops led by his son Demetrius. Attalus expanded his kingdom and founded the cities of Philadelphia and Attalia. In 152 BC the two kings and Rome helped the pretender Alexander Balas to seize the Seleucid throne from Demetrius I Soter. In 149 BC, Attalus helped Nicomedes II Epiphanes to seize the Bithynian throne from his father Prusias II.[17]

The last Attalid king, Attalus III, died without issue and bequeathed the kingdom to the Roman Republic in 133 BC.[18] The Romans were reluctant to take on territory in Asia Minor and did not take charge of the kingdom. Aristonicus, claiming to be the illegitimate son of Eumenes II, assumed the dynastic name of Eumenes III and instigated a rebellion. In 132 BC he "occupied Asia, which had been bequested to the Roman people and was supposed to be free".[19] In 131 BC Rome sent an army against him which was defeated, however a second force defeated Eumemes III in 129 BC. They annexed the former kingdom of Pergamon, which became the Roman province of Asia.

In the interior of the Pergamon Altar there is a frieze depicting the life of Telephus, son of the demigod Herakles. The ruling dynasty associated Telephus with its city and used him to claim descent from the Olympians. Pergamon, having entered the Greek world much later than its counterparts to the west, could not boast the same divine heritage as older city-states and so had to cultivate its place in Greek mythology retroactively.

• 
  Territory after the death of Lysimachus in 281 BC. Philetaerus holds just the city of Pergamon and its immediate environs.
• 
  Pergamon's territory in 200 BC, before the outbreak of war with the Seleucids.
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  Pergamon's expansion after Roman victory in the Roman–Seleucid War. Rome was eager to weaken the Seleucids by awarding territory to the weaker and Roman-allied Pergamon.

Knowledge of the dates of the reigns of the Attalid kings are largely based on Strabo's Geography, with a few minor corrections by modern historians for apparent slips of the pen.[20][21]

• Philetaerus (282–263 BC)
• Eumenes I (263–241 BC)
• Attalus I Soter (241–197 BC)
• Eumenes II (197–159 BC)
• Attalus II Philadelphus (160–138 BC)
• Attalus III (138–133 BC)
• Eumenes III Aristonicus (pretender, 133–129 BC)

• Attalea in Lydia, Roman city, former diocese and present Latin Catholic titular bishopric; now Yanantepe
• Attalea in Pamphylia, Roman city, former diocese and present Latin Catholic titular bishopric; now Antalya

• Allen, Reginald E. (1983). The Attalid Kingdom: A Constitutional History. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-814845-3.
• Austin, M.M., The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest: A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation, "The Attalids of Pergamum", Cambridge University Press, 2006; ISBN 978-0521535618
• Dignas B., "Rituals and the Construction of Identity in Attalid Pergamon" in Dignas B, Smith RRR, (eds), Historical and religious memory in the ancient world, Oxford University Press, 2012; ISBN 978-0199572069
• Hansen, Esther V. (1971) [1947]. The Attalids of Pergamon. Cornell Studies in Classical Philology, Volume 36 (Second ed.). Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0615-3. LCCN 71-142284.
• Kosmetatou, Elizabeth (2003). "The Attalids of Pergamon". In Erskine, Andrew (ed.). A Companion to the Hellenistic World. Blackwell. pp. 159–174. ISBN 0-631-22537-4.
• Nelson, T.J. (2020) "Attalid aesthetics: the Pergamene ‘baroque’ reconsidered", Journal of Hellenic Studies 140: 176-198; https://doi.org/10.1017/S0075426920000087.
• Shipley (2000). The Greek World After Alexander, 323-30 BC(The Routledge History of the Ancient World), Routledge, first edition, 1999; ASIN: B017PNSW7M
• Welles, C. B., (ed.), Royal correspondence in the Hellenistic period: A study in Greek epigraphy, Ares Publishers Inc., U.S., 1974; ISBN 978-0890050194

• Media related to Pergamon at Wikimedia Commons