Map of the Roman Empire -
Pergamum
Pergamum
N-6 on the Map
Ancient Pergamum. Former capital of the Attalid kingdom. Pergamum was
a city of the Roman province of Asia, and was the centre of emperor worship (Rev. 2:13); its church
was listed in the Book of Revelation as one of the
'seven churches' of Asia, Rev. 1:11, 2:13ff. Pergamum is now the modern city of
Bergama.
Rev. 2:13 - I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, [even] where Satan's seat [is]: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas [was] my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
Rev. 1:11 - Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send [it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Pergamum. A celebrated city of Asia Minor, the capital of the kingdom
of Pergamum, and afterwards of the Roman province of Asia, was situated in the
district of South Mysia called Teuthrania, on the north bank of the river Caïcus,
about twenty miles from the sea. The kingdom of Pergamum was founded about B.C.
280 by Philetaerus, who had been intrusted by Lysimachus with the command of the
city. The successive kings of Pergamus were: Philetaerus, b.c. 280-263; Eumenes
I., 263-241; Attalus I., 241-197; Eumenes II., 197- 159; Attalus II.
Philadelphus, 159-138; Attalus III. Philometor, 138-133. The kingdom reached its
greatest extent after the defeat of Antiochus the Great by the Romans, in B.C.
190, when the Romans bestowed upon Eumenes II. the whole of Mysia, Lydia, both
Phrygias, Lycaonia, Pisidia, and Pamphylia. It was under the same king that the
celebrated library was founded at Pergamus, which for a long time rivalled that
of Alexandria, and the formation of which occasioned the invention of parchment,
charta Pergamena. This library became the centre of a school of great importance
in the history of ancient learning; amoung its leaders were such distinguished
men as Crates of Mallos, who introduced philological studies into Rome. (See
Philologia.) The Pergamene Library was afterwards presented by Antony to
Cleopatra and united with the Alexandrian. On the death of Attalus III., in B.C.
133, the kingdom, by a bequest in his will, passed to the Romans. The city was
an early seat of Christianity, and is one of the Seven Churches of Asia to which
the Apocalyptic epistles are addressed. Among the celebrated natives of the city
were the rhetorician Apollodorus and the physician Galen. The place is now
called Bergama; and here were excavated in 1875-86, by Humann, Bohn, Conze, and
others for the German government, many remains of magnificent buildings, such as
temples, porticoes, theatres, baths, etc. - Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary
of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898.
Pergamon (Ancient Greek: Πέργαμον or Πέργαμος), or Pergamum, was an ancient
Greek city in modern-day Turkey, in Mysia, today located 16 miles (26 km) from
the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus (modern day
Bakırçay), that became the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon during the
Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 281–133 BC. Today, the main sites
of ancient Pergamon are to the north and west of the modern city of Bergama.
History of Pergamum. The Attalid kingdom was the rump state left after
the collapse of the Kingdom of Thrace. The Attalids, the descendants of Attalus,
father of Philetaerus who came to power in 281 BC following the collapse of the
Kingdom of Thrace, were among the most loyal supporters of Rome in the
Hellenistic world. Under Attalus I (241-197 BC), they allied with Rome against
Philip V of Macedon, during the first and second Macedonian Wars, and again
under Eumenes II (197-158 BC), against Perseus of Macedon, during the Third
Macedonian War. For support against the Seleucids, the Attalids were rewarded
with all the former Seleucid domains in Asia Minor. The Attalids ruled with
intelligence and generosity. Many documents survive showing how the Attalids
would support the growth of towns through sending in skilled artisans and by
remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their domains to maintain
nominal independence. They sent gifts to Greek cultural sites like Delphi,
Delos, and Athens. They defeated the invading Celts. They remodeled the
Acropolis of Pergamon after the Acropolis in Athens. When Attalus III (138-133
BC) died without an heir in 133 BC, he bequeathed the whole of Pergamon to Rome,
in order to prevent a civil war. According to Christian tradition, the first
bishop of Pergamon, Antipas, was martyred there in ca. 92 AD. (Revelation 2:13)
- Wikipedia
PE´RGAMUM or PERGAMUS
PE´RGAMUM (Πέργαμον: Eth. Περγαμηνός, Pergamenus), sometimes also called
PERGAMUS (Ptol. 5.2.14, 8.17.10; Steph. B. sub voce an ancient city, in a most
beautiful district of Teuthrania in Mysia, on the north of the river Caïcus.
Near the point where Pergamum was situated, two other rivers, the Selinus and
Cetius, emptied them-selves into the Caïcus; the Selinus flowed through the city
itself, while the Cetius washed its walls. (Strab. xiii. p.619; Plin. Nat. 5.33;
Paus. 6.16.1; Liv. 37.18.) Its distance from the sea was 120 stadia, but
communication with the sea was effected by the navigable river Caïcus. Pergamum,
which is first mentioned by Xenophon (Xen. Anab. 7.8.8) was originally a
fortress of considerable natural strength, being situated on the summit of a
conical hill, round the foot of which there were at that time no houses.
Subsequently, however, a city arose at the foot of the hill, and the latter then
became the acropolis. We have no information as to the foundation of the
original town on the hill, but the Pergamenians believed themselves to be the
descendants of Arcadians, who had migrated to Asia under the leadership of the
Heracleid Telephus (Paus. 1.4.5); they derived the name of their town from
Pergamus, a son of Pyrrhus, who was believed to have arrived there with his
mother Andromache and, after a successful combat with Arius, the ruler of
Teuthrania, to have established himself there. (Paus. 1.11.2.) Another tradition
stated that Asclepius, with a colony from Epidaurus, proceeded to Pergamum; at
all events, the place seems to have been inhabited by many Greeks at the time
when Xenophon visited it. Still, however, Pergamum remained a place of not much
importance until the time of Lysimachus, one of the generals of Alexander the
Great. This Lysimachus chose Pergamum as a place of security for the reception
and preservation of his treasures, which amounted to 9000 talents. The care and
superintendence of this treat sure was intrusted to Philetaerus of Tium, an
eunuch from his infancy, and a person in whom Lysimachus placed the greatest
confidence. For a time Philetaerus answered the expectations of Lysimachus, but
having been ill-treated by Arsinoë, the wife of his master, he withdrew his
allegiance and declared himself independent, B.C. 283. As Lysimachus was
prevented by domestic calamities from punishing the offender, Philetaerus
remained in, undisturbed possession of the town and treasures for twenty years
contriving by dexterous management to maintain, peace with his neighbours. He
transmitted his principality to a nephew of the name of Eumenes, who increased
the territory he had inherited, and even gained a victory over Antiochus, the
son of Seleucus, in the neighbourhood of Sardes. After a reign of twenty-two
years, from B.C. 263 to 241, he was succeeded by his cousin Attalus, who, after
a great victory over the Galatians, assumed the title of king, and distinguished
himself by his talents and sound policy. (Strab. xiii. pp. 623, 624; Plb. 18.24;
Liv. 33.21.) He espoused the interests of Rome against Philip of Macedonia, and
in conjunction with the Rhodian fleet rendered important services to the Romans.
It was mainly this Attalus that amassed the wealth for which his name became
proverbial. He died at an advanced age, irs B.C. 197, and was succeeded by his
son Eumenes II., from B.C. 19.7 to 159. le continued his friendship with the
Romans, and assisted them against Antiochus the Great and Perseus of Macedonia;
after the defeat of Antiochus, the Romans rewarded his services by giving to him
all the countries in Asia Minor west of Mount Taurus. Pergamum, the territory of
which had hitherto not extended beyond the gulfs of Elaea and Adramyttium, now
became a large and powerful kingdom. (Strab. l.c.; Lie. 38.39.). Eumenes 1111.
as nearly killed al; [p. 2.576]Delphi by assassins said to have been hired by
Perseus; yet at a later period he favoured the cause of the Macedonian king, and
thereby incurred the ill--will of the Romans. Pergamum was mainly indebted to
Eumenes II. for its embellishment and extension. He was a liberal patron of the
arts and sciences; he decorated the temple of Zeus Nicephorus, which had been
built by Attalus outside the city, with walks a.nd plantations, and erected
himself many other public buildings; but the greatest monument of his liberality
was the great library which he founded, and which yielded only to that of
Alexandria in extent and value. (Strab. l.c.; Athen. 1.3.) He was succeeded by
his son Attains II.; but the government was carried on by the late king's
brother Attalus, surnamed Philadelphus, from B.C. 159 to 138. During this period
the Pergamenians again assisted the Romans against the Pseudo-Philip. Attalus
also defeated Diegylis, king of the Thracian Caeni, and overthrew Prusias of
Bithynia. On his death, his ward and nephew, Attalus III., surnamed Philometor,
undertook the reins of government, from B.C. 138 to 133, and on his death
bequeathed his kingdom to the Romans. Soon after, Aristonicus, a natural son of
Eumenes II., revolted and claimed the kingdom of Pergamum for himself; but in
B.C. 130 he was vanquished and taken prisoner, and the kingdom of Pergamum
became a Roman province under the name of Asia. (Strab. l.c., xiv. p. 646.) The
city of Pergamum, however, continued to flourish and prosper under the Roman
dominion, so that Pliny (l.c.) could still call it “longe clarissimum Asiae
Pergamum;” it remained the centre of jurisdiction for the district, and of
commerce, as all the main-roads of Western Asia converged there. Pergamum was
one of the Seven Churches mentioned in the book of Revelations. Under the
Byzantine emperors the greatness and prosperity of the city declined; but it
still exists under the name of Bergamah, and presents to the visitor numerous
ruins and extensive remains of its ancient magnificence. A wall facing the
south-east of the acropolis, of hewn granite, is at least 100 feet deep, and
engrafted into the rock; above it a course of large substructions forms a
spacious area, upon which once rose a temple unrivalled in sublimity of
situation, being visible from the vast plain and the Aegean sea. The ruins of
this temple show that it was built in the noblest style. Besides this there are
ruins of an ancient temple of Aesculapius, which, like the Nicephorion, was
outside the city (Tac. Ann. 3.63; Paus. 5.13.2); of a royal palace, which was
surrounded by a wall, and connected with the Caïcus by an aqueduct; of a
prytaneum, a theatre, a gymnasium, a stadium, an amphitheatre, and other: public
buildings. All these remains attest the unusual splendour of the ancient city,
and all travellers speak with admiration of their stupendous greatness. The
numerous coins which we possess of Pergamum attest that Olympia were celebrated
there; a vase found there represents a torch-race on horseback; and Pliny
(10.25) relates that public cock-fights took place there every year. Pergamum
was celebrated for its manufacture of ointments (Athen. 15.689), pottery (Plin.
Nat. 35.46), and parchment, which derives its name (charta Pergamena) from the
city. The library of Pergamum, which is said to have consisted of no less than
200,000 volumes, was given by Antony to Cleopatra. (Comp. Spon and Wheler, Voy.
i. p. 260, &c.; Choiseul-Gouffier, Voyage Pittoresque, ii. p. 25, &c.; Arundell,
Seven Churches, p. 281, &c.; Dallaway, Constantinople Anc. and Modern, p. 303;
Leake, Asia Minor, p. 266; Fellows, Asia Minor, p. 34, &c.; Richter, Wallfahrten,
p. 488, &c.; Eckhel, Doctr. Num. vol iv., p. 445; A. G. Capelle, Commentat. de
Regibus et Antiquit. Pergamenis, Amstelodami, 1842, 8vo.)
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed.