Life in the Attalid Kingdom: City, Household and Countryside

From Philetaerus’s rise at Pergamon in 282 BCE to Attalus III’s bequest of the kingdom to Rome in 133 BCE, the Attalid state changed greatly in size and wealth. It began as a small territory around Pergamon and expanded across much of western Asia Minor, especially after 188 BCE. Its inhabitants lived in varied settings, from a steeply built capital and other cities to agricultural communities and military settlements. Attalus III’s bequest was followed by resistance under Aristonicus; Roman control was established after the revolt was defeated by 129 BCE.

Pergamon’s streets, houses and markets show daily tasks within the capital. A courtyard joined rooms and admitted light; its cistern collected a household supply of water. Workshops supplied vessels and other goods, while city officials maintained rules for shared infrastructure. Outside the capital, farming districts and smaller settlements supplied food and materials through their own local arrangements.

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Urban communities and domestic space

Pergamon’s growth was shaped by its position on a steep hill above the Caicus plain. Streets and building plots followed the terrain rather than a regular grid. As the settlement expanded, the Attalids added terraces, walls, public buildings and market areas. Under Eumenes II and Attalus II, new construction spread down the slopes and around the hill. The result was a city in which older buildings and newer developments occupied limited, uneven ground.

Many Hellenistic houses at Pergamon were arranged around a small, roughly square courtyard, with rooms along one or two sides. Main rooms often stood on the north side, reached through an entrance space or a broad passage facing the courtyard. Some houses had an upper storey, while others used different arrangements. Plot size and layout varied with the slope and with earlier construction, so there was no single standard house plan.

Roof runoff could be directed into a courtyard cistern. A waterproof lining kept the stored water from draining away, while cleaning and repairs helped preserve a usable supply. Carrying water from the tank to places where it was needed joined household movement with the building’s layout.

Water, streets and shared infrastructure

Water reached Pergamon through a combination of storage and conveyance. Household cisterns collected rain, while conduits brought water from sources beyond the city. One Hellenistic supply line carried water from the Madradağ mountains, more than 40 kilometres away. On its final approach, a pressurised pipe allowed water to cross a deep valley and rise toward the citadel. Such works required planning and maintenance as well as the materials and labour needed to build them.

Streets carried people, deliveries and runoff down the hillside. Shops and warehouses lined the principal uphill route, and channels helped manage drainage. The Astynomoi Law, preserved in a later Roman copy of a regulation generally assigned to the Attalids, required officials to register private cisterns and report on them. Water stored inside homes therefore also concerned civic administration.

Farming, work and exchange

Agriculture supplied food, fibres and other resources. Grain cultivation, vineyards, olive growing and livestock occupied different parts of the kingdom’s varied landscape. Producers had to harvest, process and store crops as well as meet obligations associated with the land they worked. Military allotments linked some farming resources with service to the king.

Pergamon’s pottery gives a clear example of skilled production. A potter could press clay into a mould decorated with figures or plants, producing a bowl whose raised pattern repeated a workshop design. Forming, drying and firing the vessel were separate operations. Local bowls and imported examples reached the same city through markets and other channels of supply.

Markets connected local production with wider exchange. Pergamon’s market areas included colonnaded halls and rooms that were probably used for commerce, while the port of Elaia linked the capital with sea routes. The kingdom also issued the silver cistophorus, a local coin introduced during the second century BCE. It was reckoned as four drachmas, although its weight was close to that of three Attic drachmas. Hoards suggest that it mainly circulated within the Attalid sphere, helping to organize payments and exchange across the kingdom.

Worship and civic life

Sanctuaries joined public gathering with worship. At Demeter’s sanctuary, courts, colonnades, an altar and seating organised approach and assembly. Mysteries were rites for initiated worshippers. The temple and altar carried a dedication by Philetaerus and his brother Eumenes on behalf of their mother Boa, linking family commemoration with facilities used by the cult.

The Nikephoria in honour of Athena received international recognition in 182 BCE. Musical, athletic and horse-racing contests accompanied sacrifices. Sacred envoys announced the event, receiving cities arranged hospitality, and successful competitors returned home with recognised honours. Participation depended on travel and organisation as well as the performances and contests themselves.

Civic institutions remained part of life in the cities, although the Attalid king held extensive authority. Local officials and regulations dealt with practical matters such as public works, while royal decisions shaped taxation, military obligations and relations between the towns and the state. Participation in civic and religious life therefore took place within communities whose local institutions operated under a powerful monarchy.

Artisans, markets and learning in Attalid communities

Education also depended on money and administration. At Delphi, a gift from Attalos established capital whose loan interest supported teachers. The city recorded borrowers and security and elected managers to protect the fund. In Pergamon, scholarship around royal books formed a different setting for learning. Crafts, civic records and literary study each put trained knowledge to practical use.

For the wider setting, see Kingdom of Pergamon.