Changes

Philaterios made his move to capture Pergamon when he aligned with Seleucus against Lysimachus in 282 BC. Although Seleucus died in the ensuing battle, Philaterios took Lysimachus’ riches and with the control of the city. He then adopted Eumenes I (ruled 263-241 BC) and initiated a new political dynasty, which he named after his father, Attalos. Philaterios started ambitious building projects and made sure that the kingdom was in good hands. <ref> Kästner, p. 33</ref>

====Pergamon as a Political Capital====

The first three Attalid kings were just as able in the arts of diplomacy as they were with war. Beginning with Eumenes I, they used those abilities to expand the kingdom southward, defeating less powerful peoples, while making alliances with the more powerful Hellenistic kingdoms and the Romans. When Attalus I (reigned 241-197 BC) came to the throne, Pergamon’s expansion was met with that of the expansion of a Gaul tribe known as the Galatians. In 240 BC the Gauls formed a federation in the region of northern Phrygia, but were defeated by Attalus I at the Battle of Kaikos. <ref> Papini, Massimiliano. “Commemorations of Victory: Attalid Monuments to the Defeat of the Galatians.” In <i>Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World.</i> Edited by Carlos A. Picón and Seán Hemingway. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2016), p. 40</ref> The victory over the Gauls consolidated Pergamon’s power over Asia Minor and made it a major player in the geopolitics of the Hellenistic world.

Eumenes II (reigned 197-159 BC) continued Pergamon’s alliance with Rome. The Roman-Pergamon alliance led to a war against Sparta as well as Macedon and its king, Perseus (ruled 212-166 BC), during the Third Macedonian War (171-168 BC). <ref> King, p. 258</ref> The Third Macedonian War would prove to be the last one, as Macedon was thoroughly defeated and incorporated into Rome. Pergamon gained little physically from the Third Macedonian War, but it did expand its borders by siding with Rome against Antiochus III (ruled 222-187 BC), king of the Seleucid Empire. As Antiochus III attempted to expand Seleucid territory into Asia Minor, the Romans helped Eumenes II check that aggression, which led to a decisive battle near the Asia Minor city of Manisa in 190 BC. In that battle, the Romans and Pergamonians vanquished the Seleucids from Asia Minor, leaving the Attalids with control over much of the region. In the Peace of Apamea (188 BC), Pergamon’s borders were extended south to Cappadocia <ref> Kästner, p. 35</ref> and with its close relationship with Rome became as powerful as Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire. By the early second century BC, Pergamon’s importance as a political center was undeniable, but its greatness as a cultural center had already been long established.

====The Art and Architecture of Pergamon====