bust of Attalus I of Pergamum
now in the Museum of Antiquities, Berlin

Attalus I Soter   [269-197 BCE]

Long-time ruler of Pergamum (in western Asia Minor) who made his city a significant force in Mediterranean politics. A great-grandson of  Seleucus I Nicator on his mother's side, Attalus inherited command of Pergamum from his paternal cousin in 241 BCE. Unlike his predecessors who for generations had bought peace with Celtic tribes occupying central Anatolia, Attalus refused to pay tribute to them. When these tribes, collectively called Galatians, threatened Pergamum, he delivered them a crushing defeat, earning him his by-name ("savior").

Attalus then adopted the title basileos ("king"), asserting his independence from Antiochus Hierax, the erstwhile Seleucid ruler who used Celts in his fraternal feud with Seleucus II for control of Asia Minor. Though Celtic support helped Hierax deal his brother a defeat at Ancyra (236 BCE), this alliance provoked Attalus, who over the next decade won a string of victories over both parties. His crushing defeat of Seleucid forces on the banks of the Harpasus river (229 BCE) drove Hierax out of Anatolia, leaving Pergamum in control of all Asia Minor north of the Taurus mountains. 

Such success did not long go unchallenged. In 225 BCE Seleucus III launched a campaign to regain Seleucid control of Asia Minor only to be killed by his own troops (223 BCE). Over the next several years, however, his top general, Achaeus,  reestablished Seleucid control of most of Asia Minor for Antiochus III. So by 219 BCE Attalus was left master of little more than Pergamum itself. Once in control of Asia Minor, however, Achaeus installed himself as king at Sardis. This prompted Antiochus III to form an alliance with Pergamum against Achaeus (216 BCE). While the former was besieging the upstart, Attalus was able to restore Pergamum's borders.

Achaeus' death (213 BCE ) let Attalus focus on protecting his western flank. Already an ally of the Aetolian league of Greek city states against Macedonian incursions, in 211 BCE he was chosen one of its pair of commandants just as Rome joined the league to counter Macedonian king Philip V's alliance with Carthage. Within months Attalus took control of the isle of Aegina, but gained nothing else from the ensuing five year war with Philip. When Philip broke the truce, however, by attacking Pergamum itself (200 BCE), Rome came to its ally's aid.  Though Attalus himself was paralyzed by a stroke & died before the Roman victory over Philip (197 BCE), his son Eumenes kept Pergamum's alliance with Rome & contributed to its victory over Antiochus III (190 BCE). So while Attalus failed to make Pergamum itself a lasting powerhouse, he played a pivotal role in redrawing the political map of the eastern Mediterranean world.

References: Polybius, Histories 4.44; 5.77-78, 107; 16:1-7, 25; 18.41.
                   Strabo, Geography 13.4.2
                   Livy, History of Rome 33.21.1-5.
                   Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 28.5.

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