ἔχει δέ τινα ἡγεμονίαν πρὸς τοὺς τόπους τούτους τὸ Πέργαμον, ἐπιφανὴς πόλις καὶ πολὺν συνευτυχήσασα χρόνον τοῖς Ἀτταλικοῖς βασιλεῦσι· καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ἀρκτέον τῆς ἑξῆς περιοδείας, καὶ πρῶτον περὶ τῶν βασιλέων ὁπόθεν ὡρμήθησαν καὶ εἰς ἃ κατέστρεψαν ἐν βραχέσι δηλωτέον. ἦν μὲν δὴ τὸ Πέργαμον Λυσιμάχου γαζοφυλάκιον τοῦ Ἀγαθοκλέους, ἑνὸς τῶν Ἀλεξάνδρου διαδόχων, αὐτὴν τὴν ἄκραν τοῦ ὄρους συνοικουμένην ἔχον· ἔστι δὲ στροβιλοειδὲς τὸ ὄρος εἰς ὀξεῖαν κορυφὴν ἀπολῆγον. ἐπεπίστευτο δὲ τὴν φυλακὴν τοῦ ἐρύματος τούτου καὶ τῶν χρημάτων (ἦν δὲ τάλαντα ἐνακισχίλια) φιλέταιρος, ἀνὴρ Τιανός, θλιβίας ἐκ παιδός· συνέβη γὰρ ἔν τινι ταφῇ θέας οὔσης καὶ πολλῶν παρόντων ἀποληφθεῖσαν ἐν τῷ ὄχλῳ τὴν κομίζουσαν τροφὸν τὸν Φιλέταιρον ἔτι νήπιον συνθλιβῆναι μέχρι τοσοῦδε ὥστε πηρωθῆναι τὸν παῖδα. ἦν μὲν δὴ εὐνοῦχος, τραφεὶς δὲ καλῶς ἐφάνη τῆς πίστεως ταύτης ἄξιος. τέως μὲν οὖν εὔνους διέμεινε τῷ Λυσιμάχῳ, διενεχθεὶς δὲ πρὸς Ἀρσινόην τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ διαβάλλουσαν αὐτὸν ἀπέστησε τὸ χωρίον καὶ πρὸς τοὺς καιροὺς ἐπολιτεύετο ὁρῶν ἐπιτηδείους πρὸς νεωτερισμόν· ὅ τε γὰρ Λυσίμαχος κακοῖς οἰκείοις περιπεσὼν ἠναγκάσθη τὸν υἱὸν ἀνελεῖν Ἀγαθοκλέα, Σέλευκός τε ἐπελθὼν ὁ Νικάτωρ ἐκεῖνόν τε κατέλυσε καὶ αὐτὸς κατελύθη δολοφονηθεὶς ὑπὸ Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Κεραυνοῦ. τοιούτων δὲ θορύβων ὄντων διεγένετο μένων ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐρύματος ὁ εὐνοῦχος, καὶ πολιτευόμενος διʼ ὑποσχέσεων καὶ τῆς ἄλλης θεραπείας ἀεὶ πρὸς τὸν ἰσχύοντα καὶ ἐγγὺς παρόντα· διετέλεσε γοῦν ἔτη εἴκοσι κύριος ὢν τοῦ φρουρίου καὶ τῶν χρημάτων.
PERGAMUM has a kind of supremacy among these places. It is a city of note, and flourished during a long period under the Attalic kings; and here we shall begin our description, premising a short account of her kings, their origin, and the end of their career.
Pergamum was the treasure-hold of Lysimachus, the son of Agathocles, and one of the successors of Alexander. It is situated on the very summit of the mountain which terminates in a sharp peak like a pine-cone. Phileterus of Tyana was intrusted with the custody of this strong-hold, and of the treasure, which amounted to nine thousand talents. He became an eunuch in childhood by compression, for it happened that a great body of people being assembled to see a funeral, the nurse who was carrying Philetaerus, then an infant, in her arms, was entangled in the crowd, and pressed upon to such a degree that the child was mutilated.
He was therefore an eunuch, but having been well educated he was thought worthy of this trust. He continued for some time well affected to Lysimachus, but upon a disagree ment with Arsinoë, the wife of Lysimachus, who had falsely accused him, he caused the place to revolt, and suited his political conduct to the times, perceiving them to be favourable to change. Lysimachus, overwhelmed with domestic troubles, was compelled to put to death Agathocles his son. Seleucus Nicator invaded his country and destroyed his power, but was himself treacherously slain by Ptolemy Ceraunus.
During these disorders the eunuch remained in the fortress, continually employing the policy of promises and other courtesies with those who were the strongest and nearest to himself. He thus continued master of the strong-hold for twenty years.
ἦσαν δʼ αὐτῷ δύο ἀδελφοί, πρεσβύτερος μὲν Εὐμένης νεώτερος δʼ Ἄτταλος· ἐκ μὲν οὖν τοῦ Εὐμένους ἐγένετο ὁμώνυμος τῷ πατρὶ Εὐμένης, ὅσπερ καὶ διεδέξατο τὸ Πέργαμον, καὶ ἦν ἤδη δυνάστης τῶν κύκλῳ χωρίων ὥστε καὶ περὶ Σάρδεις ἐνίκησε μάχῃ συμβαλὼν Ἀντίοχον τὸν Σελεύκου· δύο δὲ καὶ εἴκοσιν ἄρξας ἔτη τελευτᾷ τὸν βίον. ἐκ δὲ Ἀττάλου καὶ Ἀντιοχίδος τῆς Ἀχαιοῦ γεγονὼς Ἄτταλος διεδέξατο τὴν ἀρχήν, καὶ ἀνηγορεύθη βασιλεὺς πρῶτος νικήσας Γαλάτας μάχῃ μεγάλῃ. οὗτος δὲ καὶ Ῥωμαίοις κατέστη φίλος καὶ συνεπολέμησε πρὸς Φίλιππον μετὰ τοῦ Ῥοδίων ναυτικοῦ· γηραιὸς δὲ ἐτελεύτα βασιλεύσας ἔτη τρία καὶ τετταράκοντα, κατέλιπε δὲ τέτταρας υἱοὺς ἐξ Ἀπολλωνίδος Κυζικηνῆς γυναικός, Εὐμένη Ἄτταλον Φιλέταιρον Ἀθήναιον. οἱ μὲν οὖν νεώτεροι διετέλεσαν ἰδιῶται, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων ὁ πρεσβύτερος Εὐμένης ἐβασίλευσε· συνεπολέμησε δὲ οὗτος Ῥωμαίοις πρός τε Ἀντίοχον τὸν μέγαν καὶ πρὸς Περσέα, καὶ ἔλαβε παρὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ἅπασαν τὴν ὑπʼ Ἀντιόχῳ τὴν ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου. πρότερον δʼ ἦν τὰ περὶ Πέργαμον οὐ πολλὰ χωρία μέχρι τῆς θαλάττης τῆς κατὰ τὸν Ἐλαΐτην κόλπον καὶ τὸν Ἀδραμυττηνόν. κατεσκεύασε δʼ οὗτος τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸ Νικηφόριον ἄλσει κατεφύτευσε, καὶ ἀναθήματα καὶ βιβλιοθήκας καὶ τὴν ἐπὶ τοσόνδε κατοικίαν τοῦ Περγάμου τὴν νῦν οὖσαν ἐκεῖνος προσεφιλοκάλησε· βασιλεύσας ἔτη τετταράκοντα καὶ ἐννέα ἀπέλιπεν υἱῷ τὴν ἀρχὴν Ἀττάλῳ, γεγονότι ἐκ Στρατονίκης τῆς Ἀριαράθου θυγατρὸς τοῦ Καππαδόκων βασιλέως. ἐπίτροπον δὲ κατέστησε καὶ τοῦ παιδὸς νέου τελέως ὄντος καὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἄτταλον. ἓν δὲ καὶ εἴκοσιν ἔτη βασιλεύσας γέρων οὗτος τελευτᾷ κατορθώσας πολλά· καὶ γὰρ Δημήτριον τὸν Σελεύκου συγκατεπολέμησεν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τῷ Ἀντιόχου καὶ συνεμάχησε Ῥωμαίοις ἐπὶ τὸν Ψευδοφίλιππον, ἐχειρώσατο δὲ καὶ Διήγυλιν τὸν Καινῶν βασιλέα στρατεύσας εἰς τὴν Θρᾴκην, ἀνεῖλε δὲ καὶ Προυσίαν ἐπισυστήσας αὐτῷ Νικομήδη τὸν υἱόν, κατέλιπε δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῷ ἐπιτροπευθέντι Ἀττάλῳ· βασιλεύσας δὲ οὗτος ἔτη πέντε καὶ κληθεὶς Φιλομήτωρ ἐτελεύτα νόσῳ τὸν βίον, κατέλιπε δὲ κληρονόμους Ῥωμαίους· οἱ δʼ ἐπαρχίαν ἀπέδειξαν τὴν χώραν Ἀσίαν προσαγορεύσαντες ὁμώνυμον τῇ ἠπείρῳ. παραρρεῖ δʼ ὁ Κάικος τὸ Πέργαμον, διὰ τοῦ Καΐκου πεδίου προσαγορευομένου σφόδρα εὐδαίμονα γῆν διεξιὼν σχεδὸν δέ τι καὶ τὴν ἀρίστην τῆς Μυσίας.
He had two brothers, the elder of whom was Eumenes, the younger Attalus. Eumenes had a son of the same name, who succeeded to the possession of Pergamum, and was then sovereign of the places around, so that he overcame in a battle near Sardes Antiochus, the son of Seleucus, and died after a reign of two-and-twenty years.
Attalus, the son of Attalus and Antiochis, daughter of Achaeus, succeeded to the kingdom. He was the first person who was proclaimed king after a victory, which he obtained in a great battle with the Galatians. He became an ally of the Romans, and, in conjunction with the Rhodian fleet, assisted them in the war against Philip. He died in old age, having reigned forty-three years. He left four sons by Apollonis, a woman of Cyzicus,—Eumenes, Attalus, Philetaerus, and Athenaeus. The younger sons continued in a private station, but Eumenes, the elder, was king. He was an ally of the Romans in the war with Antiochus the Great, and with Perseus; he received from the Romans all the country within the Taurus which had belonged to Antiochus. Before this time there were not under the power of Pergamum many places which reached to the sea at the Elaïtic and the Adramyttene Gulfs. Eumenes embellished the city, he ornamented the Nicephorium with a grove, enriched it with votive offerings and a library, and by his care raised the city of Perga mum to its present magnificence. After he had reigned forty-nine years he left the kingdom to Attains, his son by Stratonice, daughter of Ariarathus, king of Cappadocia.
He appointed as guardian of his son, who was very young, and as regent of the kingdom, his brother Attalus, who died an old man after a reign of twenty years, having performed many glorious actions. He assisted Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, in the war against Alexander, the son of Antiochus, and was the ally of the Romans in the war against the Pseudo-Philip. In an expedition into Thrace he defeated and took prisoner Diegylis, king of the Caeni. He destroyed Prusias by exciting his son Nicomedes to rebel against his father. He left the kingdom to Attalus his ward. His cognomen was Philometor. He reigned five years, and died a natural death. He left the Romans his heirs. They made the country a province, and called it Asia by the name of the continent.
The Caïcus flows past Pergamum through the plain of Caïcus, as it is called, and traverses a very fertile country, indeed almost the best soil in Mysia.
ἄνδρες δʼ ἐγένοντο ἐλλόγιμοι καθʼ ἡμᾶς Περγαμηνοὶ Μιθριδάτης τε Μηνοδότου υἱὸς καὶ Ἀδοβογιωνίδος τοῦ τετραρχικοῦ τῶν Γαλατῶν γένους, ἣν καὶ παλλακεῦσαι τῷ βασιλεῖ Μιθριδάτῃ φασίν· ὅθεν καὶ τοὔνομα τῷ παιδὶ θέσθαι τοὺς ἐπιτηδείους προσποιησαμένους ἐκ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτὸν γεγονέναι. οὗτος γοῦν Καίσαρι τῷ θεῷ γενόμενος φίλος εἰς τοσόνδε προῆλθε τιμῆς ὥστε καὶ τετράρχης ἀπεδείχθη τοῦ μητρῴου γένους καὶ βασιλεὺς ἄλλων τε καὶ τοῦ Βοσπόρου· κατελύθη δʼ ὑπὸ Ἀσάνδρου τοῦ καὶ Φαρνάκην ἀνελόντος τὸν βασιλέα καὶ κατασχόντος τὸν Βόσπορον. οὗτός τε δὴ ὀνόματος ἠξίωται μεγάλου, καὶ Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ ῥήτωρ ὁ τὰς τέχνας συγγράψας καὶ τὴν Ἀπολλοδώρειον αἵρεσιν παραγαγών, ἥτις ποτʼ ἐστί· πολλὰ γὰρ ἐπεκράτει, μείζονα δὲ ἢ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἔχοντα τὴν κρίσιν, ὧν ἔστι καὶ ἡ Ἀπολλοδώρειος αἵρεσις καὶ ἡ Θεοδώρειος. μάλιστα δὲ ἐξῆρε τὸν Ἀπολλόδωρον ἡ τοῦ Καίσαρος φιλία τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ, διδάσκαλον τῶν λόγων γενόμενον· μαθητὴν δʼ ἔσχεν ἀξιόλογον Διονύσιον τὸν ἐπικληθέντα Ἀττικόν, πολίτην αὐτοῦ· καὶ γὰρ σοφιστὴς ἦν ἱκανὸς καὶ συγγραφεὺς καὶ λογογράφος.
The celebrated men in our times, natives of Pergamum, were Mithridates, the son of Menodotus and the daughter of Adobogion; he was of the family of the Tetrarchs of Galatia. Adobogion, it is said, had been the concubine of Mithridates the king; the relatives therefore gave to the child the name of Mithridates, pretending that he was the king’s son.
This prince became so great a friend of Divus Caesar, that he was promoted to the honour of Tetrarch (of Galatia) out of regard to his mother’s family; he was appointed also king of Bosporus and of other places. He was overthrown by Asander, who put to death Pharnaces the king and obtained possession of the Bosporus. He had a great reputation as well as Apollodorus the rhetorician, who composed a work on the Art of Rhetoric, and was the head of the Apollodorian sect of philosophers, whatever that may be; for many opinions have prevailed, the merits of which are beyond our power to decide upon, among which are those of the sects of Apollodorus and Theodorus.
But the friendship of Augustus Caesar, whom he instructed in oratory, was the principal cause of the elevation of Apollodorus. He had a celebrated scholar Dionysius, surnamed Atticus, his fellow-citizen, who was an able teacher of philosophy, an historian, and composer of orations.
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