ATTALUS, the name of three kings of ancient Pergamum.
Soter, king of Pergamum, succeeded Eumenes I. at Pergamum in 241 B.C. Soon after his accession (perhaps
he defeated the Galatians in a great battle, as a result of which he took the title of king, and by defeating Antiochus Hierax ex tended his boundaries over a large area in Asia Minor. Most of the rest of his life was occupied with wars against Philip V. of Macedon. He fought with Rome and the Aetolians against Philip and the Achaeans in 211, and joined in the general peace made in 204. In 201 war again broke out between Philip and Rhodes, and Attalus joined the Rhodians. He died at Pergamum in
During his reign the court of Pergamum was one of the centres of Hellenistic culture. A Pergamese school of sculpture arose, stimulated by the dedication of votive figures to the great shrines of ter the victory over the Galatians, of which the so-called "Dying Gladiator" is one. There was equal activity on the literary side ; there were a great library and a Stoic Academy.
king of Pergamum, was born in 200 B.C. He served as a general under his brother Eumenes II. and corn manded the Pergamene contingent that served the Romans in their expeditions in Galatia (189) and Greece (I,' ) . He visited Rome frequently as an ambassador, and succeeded his brother in 1S9. Secure in his alliance with Rome, he played a successful part in the wars and diplomacy of the East, though Rome had to intervene actively when he was besieged in his capital by Prusias II. of Bithynia in 154. Under Attalus II. Pergamum re tained its rank as a centre of Hellenistic culture, and is espe cially notable for Crates, the Homeric critic. He died in 138.
III., Philometor, succeeded his uncle Attalus II. in 138 B.C. A very different type of ruler from his predecessors, he introduced the Pergamese to the methods of Asiatic tyranny, from which they had previously been secure. After pursuing an eccentric career, largely devoted to gardening and sculpture, he died in 133. The sole importance of his reign lies in his will. As the last of the Attalic house he could dispose of the sovereignty, and he bequeathed it to Rome. Rome accepted it and became involved in a struggle with the pretender Aristonicus (q.v.).
