Attalid Kingdom of Pergamon: A Great Power of the Hellenistic World

During the Hellenistic era, an obscure city in western Asia Minor (modern Turkey) became one of the leading states of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. The Attalids, who ruled Pergamon, were a curious dynasty. Unusually harmonious in an era known for intra-dynastic strife, they were uniquely founded by a eunuch.

Blending military, diplomatic, and cultural power, Pergamon became a flourishing center of Hellenism, playing a major role in regional politics. From humble beginnings, the Kingdom of Pergamon shaped the course of Mediterranean history and left a proud artistic legacy.

Pergamon’s location did much to shape the course of its history. The city developed around an easily defensible high point in the middle of the Caicus River valley in modern western Turkey. The valley formed a path from the interior of Anatolia to the Aegean coast bringing trade and wealth. However, while the high ground Pergamon sat atop was a natural strong point the same roads that brought the wealth could easily bring invading armies making the state founded here both rich and vulnerable.

Despite its prominent, if precarious, position, Pergamon was largely absent from earlier phases of Greek history. When it began its rise at the end of the long wars that followed the death of Alexander the Great it did so under an unlikely figure.

Philetairos was likely the son of a Macedonian soldier and a local Paphalogonian woman (Evans, 2012, 10). According to Strabo, an accident as an infant left him a eunuch. Yet, perhaps uniquely, this eunuch founded a dynasty, the Attalids. In the late 280s BCE Philetairos was commander of the garrison and treasury stored at Pergamon for King Lysimachus. When the final battle of the wars of the successors approached between Lysimachus and Seleukos, Philetairos defected and joined the victorious Seleukos around the time of the decisive Battle of Corupedium in 281 BCE.

This defection began a long relationship between the rulers of Pergamon and the Seleucids who ruled much of Alexander’s old empire from Asia Minor to India.

The Hellenistic Age was dominated by three great powers; Antigonid Macedonia, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the Seleucids. However, around these existed a series of smaller states whose relationships with the great powers depended on the balance of power. Attalid Pergamon during the 3rd century was at different points semi-independent, allied, or opposed to the Seleucid king before proclaiming itself a fully independent kingdom in the last third of the century.

The first rulers of Pergamon, Philetairos (c.282-263) and his nephew Eumenes I (263-241), established a pattern of long and relatively successful reigns. The six Attalid rulers between 282 and 133 BCE reigned for an average of 25 years each. According to ancient sources, they did not initially take the title of king though modern scholars like Richard Evans point out that they were kings in all but name. The little we know of Eumenes’ reign suggests that the Attalids sought territorial expansion. Historian R. Malcolm Errington suggests their victory over Seleucid Antiochus I reveals their ambitions.

Whereas the Attalids became famous for a lack of intra-dynastic family turmoil, 3rd-century Seleucid Asia Minor saw several Seleucid civil wars that pitted members of the ruling family against each other. The influence of Pergamon at this time shouldn’t be overstated as it remained essentially a city-state only firmly holding the Caicus Valley. Nevertheless, bouts of Seleucid turmoil provided opportunities to expand. Such growth was often curtailed by a revival of Seleucid stability.

Rise to Kingship 

It was a victory over the Galatians that gave the Attalids an opportunity to promote themselves to kings. The Galatians were Celtic tribes that had migrated to the Balkans and Asia Minor earlier in the third century after a raid on Greece. While they settled and formed their own community many of their neighbors viewed them as dangerous barbarians. When Attalus I (269-197) defeated the Galatians in a battle in the Caicus Valley in c. 238, the Attalids proclaimed themselves defenders of civilization and formally adopted the title of kings.

Despite becoming kings and a growing diplomatic presence across the wider region the Attalid power base remained vulnerable. The Seleucids were able to roll back advances into the late third century and the victory monuments built around Pergamon to celebrate earlier triumphs were vandalized by an invasion of the Macedonian King Philip V as the century ended. It was Pergamon’s continued vulnerability that propelled it to a fateful new relationship with a more distant great power.

Towards the end of the 3rd century BCE, the Romans entered the Greek world as disruptors to the status quo. The Romans were not simply foreign conquerors. As their role in the Hellenistic world grew, numerous states sought to use this new power to their advantage. None more so than Attalid Pergamon.

Many Greek states were drawn to Rome by regional politics. The Attalids always had to be wary not only of the major powers but also of neighboring rival states. With the kingdom of Bithynia to the north allied with Antigonid Macedonia the Attalids naturally developed connections with Macedonia’s Greek enemy, the Aitolians. When the Aitolians allied with the Romans in the First Macedonian War (215-205) the Attalids joined in.

Pergamon’s role in this first indecisive conflict was to support the Roman fleet operating around Greece. This campaign was brutal with the Romans seeking not territory but plunder. The Pergamene fleet joined in the sack of Greek cities and bought the island of Aegina giving the Attalids a permanent presence in Greece. Though Pergamon’s involvement was limited and cut short by a Bithyian invasion of Pergamon the Attalids participated in the peace that ended the war in 205 BCE bringing them closer to Rome.

Wars With the Seleucids and Macedonians 

When Philip V turned east in the years after the peace and reached the walls of Pergamon, the Attalids, along with the Rhodians and Athenians, turned again to Rome. In contrast to the first conflict, the Second Macedonian War (200-196) was short and decisive. At the Battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 BCE Philip was beaten, and although he continued to rule, Macedonian power in Greece was ended.

Immediately after the defeat of the Antigonids Pergamon had reason to fear the Seleucids. Antiochus III “the Great” was the most powerful and successful Seleucid in a century. Pergamon, now ruled by Eumenes II (197-159), encouraged another Roman intervention, bringing Roman soldiers to Asia for the first time. When this Roman army overpowered Antiochus at the Battle of Magnesia in 190/89 BCE, not far from Pergamene territory, Eumenes was present leading his cavalry. The defeat forced the Seleucids to withdraw from all of Asia Minor. In less than a decade the Romans had removed the two powers that had long overshadowed Pergamon.

Pergamon’s reward was to share Asia Minor with Rome’s other ally the Rhodians. The Peace of Apamea in 188 BCE marked a major decline for the Seleucids and a great expansion for Pergamon. The following fifty years were the high point of the Attalid kingdom as they became the major power in the region thanks to Rome. This new wealth and power transformed Pergamon itself. A major building program under Eumenes II added a library and monumental altars to a spectacular theater built under Attalus I. 2nd century Pergamon became one of the leading cities of the ancient world.

Pergamon was Rome’s most active and loyal ally during its conquest of Greece and participated in the Macedonian Wars and the Achaian War (147-146) which saw the fall of the last major free state in Greece. When Corinth was sacked by Roman troops in 146 BCE, an event marking the final conquest of Greece, Attalid troops were there.

The pinnacle of Perrgamum’s power in the 2nd century was a gift of Rome and as such could only be a short-term prosperity. After the final defeat of Macedonia in the Third Macedonian War (171-168), the Romans had less need for their Greek allies. The Attalids were among several Roman allies who suddenly found themselves out of favor. The Romans were temporarily willing to listen to complaints against Pergamon but its disfavor seemed to be brief.

Although they could no longer be so sure of preferential treatment by Rome, Pergamon continued to enjoy its position as the major state of Asia Minor throughout the 160s and 150s. The Galatians were defeated again and Pergamon was even able to interfere in a disputed Seleucid succession. An invasion by the Bithynians exposed the kingdom’s continued vulnerability as an enemy once again reached the walls of the capital but the Attalids leveraged enough Roman support to see off the threat.

The End of Attalid Rule

The last Attalid king, Attalus III, was unusual for his dynasty in only having a short reign. After coming to the throne in 138 BCE he died childless just five years later in 133 BCE. Not only was the reign unusually short for an Attalid but it is possible that there was a level of family strife or anxiety which contrasted with the harmonious relations the dynasty had always wanted to portray. Attalus had written in his will that should he die childless the entire kingdom will pass, not to another relative, but to the Romans. We lack detailed evidence to fully explain this decision but according to Claude Vial, the clause seems to have been designed to protect Attalus from ambitious relatives while he was lacking an heir.

Having become a powerful state thanks to the influence of Rome and having aided the new empire in its expansion Pergamon now became the first Roman province in Asia. The handover, however, was not smooth. The news of Attalus’ gift arrived in Rome just as the Romans were beginning a century of polarisation and civil wars that transformed their republic into an empire. In Pergamon, the decision was not universally accepted and a supposed member of the Attalid family, Aristonikos (Eumenes III), led a rebellion for several years. The Romans were not able to take secure possession of their new province until Aristonikos’ death in 129 BCE. In the words of Evans, the end of the Attalid kingdom saw a gift given by Rome simply returned to it.

Given the role it played in the takeover of the Greek world by the Romans the political legacy of Pergamon is dubious. Though it should be said the Attalids were simply more successful at a game the Athenians, Rhodians, Aitolians, Ptolemies, Achaians, and others were also playing. Given the destruction the Roman conquest wrought on other states, Pergamon’s relatively peaceful end was perhaps not the worst outcome. There can be little doubt, however, about the state’s cultural legacy.

The Attalids, like many Hellenistic monarchs, bolstered their diplomatic efforts by gifting buildings and making donations to prominent religious or cultural centers in Greece. This saw Attalid donations to Athens, Delos, and Delphi. In Athens, the remains of the Stoa of Eumenes II can still be seen on the slopes of the Acropolis while a reconstruction of the Stoa of Attalus II dominates the Athenian Agora.

Once Pergamon became a great power after the Peace of Apamea the city itself was transformed leaving behind one of the region’s great archeological sites. Following a major building program, the Pergamene Acropolis dominating the Caicus Valley would have been one of the Hellenistic world’s most spectacular sites. crowded as it was with temples and a steep theater. The most famous product of this flourishing can still be seen today at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

Eumenes II commissioned the construction of a massive altar measuring 35m x 33m. Decorating the structure are some of the finest Hellenistic sculptures depicting a gigantomachy, a fight between the gods and giants. The choice of a gigantomachy is often thought to symbolize the triumph of order and civilization over barbarity and reflected Attalid propaganda. In addition to the altar itself, several of the most renowned surviving sculptures of the ancient world may have been based on Pergamene originals such as the Dying Gaul (see above).

One of the most significant monuments was the Library of Pergamon constructed under Eumenes II. The library was said to be a rival of the celebrated Library of Alexandria. This rivalry prompted the Egyptian authorities to restrict the export of the papyrus used for the texts. In response, Pergamon turned to parchment which was just being developed. Such was the connection between Pergamon and parchment that the word itself, parchment, ultimately derives from the name Pergamon.

Though the Attalid Kingdom of Pergamon was short-lived, its role as a cultural center continued under the Roman Empire and ultimately transmitted parts of the legacy of the ancient world down through the ages.

Bibliography

Evans, Richard A History of Pergamum: Beyond Hellenistic Kingship (2012). Continuum. London

Errington, Malcolm R. A History of the Hellenistic World, 323-30BC (2005). Blackwell. Malden

Vial, Claude Les Grecs de la paix d’Apamée à la bataille d’Actium, 188-31 (1995). Editions du Seuil. Evreux