Attalid Rule in Pergamon: Cities, Revenue, and Royal Power

From Philetaerus’s seizure of Pergamon around 282 BCE to Attalus III’s bequest of the kingdom to Rome in 133 BCE, Attalid power developed from control of a fortified city and its surroundings into rule over much of western Asia Minor. The kingdom’s capital was Pergamon, but its authority reached across territories with different civic traditions and political statuses. Kings drew on taxes, royal property, trade, and military resources, while relying on local communities and alliances to govern and defend their holdings. The result was not a uniform system: a city’s obligations and freedom could depend on its history and its relationship with the ruling house.

On this page7 sections

From a fortified centre to a royal state

Philetaerus had been entrusted by Lysimachus, one of Alexander the Great’s successors, with Pergamon’s fortress and a large royal treasury. Around 282 BCE he took control of the city and its immediate territory. He maintained a formal relationship with the Seleucid kings, but exercised considerable autonomy. Pergamon’s stronghold and treasury gave him a base from which to make agreements, support allies, and extend his influence beyond the city.

Philetaerus’s successor, his nephew and adopted son Eumenes I, defeated the Seleucid king Antiochus I near Sardis in 261 BCE. This marked a clearer break with Seleucid authority. Under Attalus I, who ruled from 241 to 197 BCE, victory over the Galatians helped establish the dynasty’s standing. Attalus adopted the title basileus, meaning king. The kingdom remained a hereditary monarchy, but succession did not always pass directly from father to son: adoption and transfers among close relatives helped sustain the dynasty.

The king held the leading military and administrative authority, but rule also operated through civic institutions and appointed officials. A polis, or city community, could retain its own public bodies and make decisions for its citizens. At Pergamon, however, Eumenes I took the power to appoint the city’s senior board of officials, rather than leaving those appointments to the civic assembly. Royal decrees could apply across the kingdom, while civic decisions generally concerned the inhabitants of an individual city. The balance between local government and royal supervision therefore varied rather than following one fixed arrangement.

Governing cities across an enlarged kingdom

The Treaty of Apamea in 188 BCE assigned extensive former Seleucid lands to Eumenes II, including territories in Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia. Rhodes received a separate award in southwestern Asia Minor. The two settlements had different subsequent histories: Rome freed Caria and Lycia from Rhodian rule in 167 BCE, rather than transferring the whole area to Pergamon.

Cities held differing combinations of privileges and obligations. Some communities were described as free or exempt from taxation, while others came under Attalid authority and owed payments to the king, including cities that had previously paid the Seleucids. In practice, political freedom, exemption from tribute, and the extent of royal oversight could be distinct questions.

The enlarged realm required coordination across distant communities. Regional strategoi combined administrative and military responsibilities, while royal letters transmitted decisions and demands. City councils and officials could receive a letter, deliberate on its implementation and record a response. An inscribed exchange made the relationship public and preserved the terms on which a community acted.

Land, taxes, and the royal treasury

Attalid revenues came from several sources. Cities paid regular contributions, and some also owed port or other trade duties. Rural communities and agricultural producers were liable for taxes, though the surviving evidence does not allow the whole system or its rates to be reconstructed. Payments could also be made in kind, rather than entirely in money. Kings could grant exemptions, making tax relief a practical benefit for a city or community and a means of shaping its relationship with the court.

Land connected the treasury with the work of farming communities. Grain, vineyards, pasture and woodland supplied produce and raw materials, while royal land and military allotments tied some resources directly to the court. Cultivating a field, collecting its produce and transferring a share to an authority were separate operations that could involve local institutions as well as royal representatives.

Royal demands often passed through local institutions. An assessment set the amount a community owed; distributing that burden and gathering the payments required further decisions within the city. Grain and other produce involved storage and transport, while coin payments could support expenditure at a distance. Exemptions and concessions changed those obligations and made negotiation with the court materially significant.

Military commitments and diplomacy

Royal resources supported an army made up of professional mercenaries, military settlers, and, when needed, troops drawn from cities and local populations. Military settlers combined an agricultural livelihood with service obligations. The kings also maintained garrisons and a fleet. These forces were necessary in a region where the Attalids faced powerful neighbours, including the Seleucids, Bithynia, and Pontus, as well as conflicts involving the Galatians.

Diplomacy was closely tied to these military needs. Attalus I supported Rome in its wars against Macedon, and the alliance continued under later kings. Eumenes II backed Rome in the war against Antiochus III, providing military assistance and helping supply grain. After the Roman victory, the settlement at Apamea enlarged his kingdom. The territorial grants strengthened Pergamon, but also made the king’s position dependent in part on Rome’s decisions. Rome acted as a powerful arbiter in regional disputes, while Attalid rulers continued to pursue their own alliances and military aims.

The kings also fought beyond the Roman alliance’s major wars. Eumenes II and Attalus II were involved in conflicts with neighbouring rulers, including the kings of Pontus and Bithynia. Attalus II, who ruled from 159 to 138 BCE, received Roman assistance during his war with Prusias II of Bithynia. Such commitments required soldiers, ships, money, and supplies, and could bring political influence or territorial gains. They could also expose the kingdom to new costs and risks.

Patronage as practical government

Royal gifts to cities could answer immediate needs as well as strengthen political relationships. An inscription from Cyzicus records support from Philetaerus that included silver, horses for border defence, and grain during a Galatian threat. He also supported civic and educational purposes there. When the city of Kyme sought equipment for its citizen force, he provided 600 shields. These acts show how a ruler could use money, food, and military supplies to help communities defend themselves or meet public obligations.

Patronage could create a continuing institution as well as answer an emergency. At Delphi around 160/159 BCE, Attalos provided 18,000 silver drachmas to support teachers and a separate 3,000 for honours and sacrifices. The money was lent on security, and interest funded the intended expenses. Elected managers and written accounts connected a royal gift with recurring civic responsibilities.

The cistophorus and a regional monetary system

The silver coin called the cistophorus offers evidence for the kingdom’s regional economy. Its introduction is dated differently in modern accounts; hoard evidence has led many scholars to place its development around 170–160 BCE, rather than securely in the immediate aftermath of the 188 BCE settlement. It was used in Pergamon and other cities under Attalid control. The coin was valued at four drachmas but weighed about 12.5 grams, roughly the weight of three Attic drachmas. Its stated value therefore did not simply match its silver weight.

Cistophori circulated chiefly in the Pergamene region, and their designs omitted the reigning king’s portrait. A sacred chest associated with Dionysus appeared on one face, a bow case framed by serpents on the other. City names and marks linked issues with particular authorities. Other silver, including Attic-weight coinage, continued to be produced and used. The regional denomination therefore operated within a more varied supply of money than an exclusive royal currency would imply.

The bequest and Roman settlement

Attalus III, the last Attalid king, bequeathed the kingdom to the Roman Republic when he died in 133 BCE. The transition was contested. Aristonicus, who claimed royal descent and took the name Eumenes III, challenged the transfer and fought Roman forces. Rome’s first expedition against him was defeated, but a later force prevailed; the remaining resistance was suppressed by 129 BCE, when the former kingdom was organized as the Roman province of Asia. The bequest thus ended Attalid rule, but Roman control followed a conflict rather than an immediate, uncontested handover.

For the wider setting, see Pergamon: History, Government and Society under the Attalids.