Attalus II "Brother-Loving" | |
---|---|
King of Pergamon | |
Reign | 159-138 BC |
Predecessor | Eumenes II |
Successor | Attalus III |
Born | 220 BC |
Died | 138 BC (Aged 81-82) Pergamon |
Spouse | Stratonice |
Greek | Άτταλος Β΄ Φιλάδελφος |
Dynasty | Attalid dynasty |
Father | Attalus I |
Mother | Apollonis |
Religion | Greek Polytheism |
Attalus II Philadelphus (Greek: Ἄτταλος ὁ Φιλάδελφος, Attalos II Philadelphos, which means "Attalus the brother-loving"; 220–138 BC) was a ruler of the Attalid kingdom of Pergamon and the founder of the city of Attalia.
He was the second son of Attalus I Soter and queen Apollonis of Cyzicus, [1] and ascended the throne first as co-ruler alongside his ailing brother Eumenes II in 160 BC, whose widow Stratonice of Pergamon he married in 158 BC upon Eumenes' death. [2]
Prior to becoming king, Attalus was already an accomplished military commander. In 192 BC he was sent by his brother Eumenes to Rome to warn against Antiochus III. In 190 BC, he was present in the Battle of Magnesia [3] which resulted in a defeat against the Seleucids. Around 189 BC he led his forces to fight alongside the Roman Army under Gnaeus Manlius Vulso in Galatia. [4] From 182-179 BC, he successfully defeated the Kingdom of Pontus under Pharnaces I, [5] gaining some territory. In 172, Eumenes, returning from a visit to Rome, was attacked near Cirrha and was believed to be dead. Attalus, upon learning of this, married his brother's widow Stratonice and became king of Pergamon. When his brother returned, he divorced Stratonice and ceded the power to his elder brother without a fight. [6]
Attalus II also made frequent diplomatic visits to Rome, and sent frequent envoys such as Andronicus of Pergamum, gaining the esteem of the Romans. At one point, they offered him assistance to overthrow his brother, but he declined. [7] When his brother died in 159 BC, his nephew was too young to rule at the time, so he ascended the throne as regent and married Stratonice once again. The Romans had assisted him in his own battles against Prusias II in 156–154 BC. In the summer of 152, he, Ptolemy VI, Ariarathes V, and Rome, helped the pretender Alexander Balas to seize the Seleucid throne from Demetrius I [8] and in 149 BC, he helped Nicomedes II Epiphanes to seize the Bithynian throne from his father Prusias II. [9]
Attalus expanded his kingdom with the help of his good friend Ariarathes V of Cappadocia, and founded the cities of Philadelphia and Attalia ( Antalya ). He was well known as a patron of the arts and sciences, and was the inventor of a new kind of embroidery.
In his old age, he relied upon his chief minister, named Philopoemen (Φιλοποίμην), to help him govern. He repelled a raid by the Parthians.
He was succeeded by his nephew Attalus III upon his death.
He is present during the battle of Magnesia
supports the Roman commander Manlius Vulso during his war against the Galatians.
War against king Pharnaces of Pontus; territorial gains.
On his return, Eumenes is attacked near Cirrha, and believed to be death. Attalus II becomes king and marries queen Stratonice. When Eumenes returns, Attalus cedes power.
During the Third Macedonian War, the Romans start to distrust Eumenes and try to make Attalus king, but he is not willing to betray his brother.
Summer 152: Attalus II, together with Ariarathes V of Cappadocia, the Egyptian king Ptolemy VI Philometor, and Rome, support Alexander I Balas, usurper in the Seleucid Empire.
Attalus supports Nicomedes, who overthrows his father Prusias II of Bithynia.
This article concerns the period 159 BC – 150 BC.
This article concerns the period 189 BC – 180 BC.
Year 150 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Flamininus and Balbus. The denomination 150 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Year 189 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Nobilior and Vulso. The denomination 189 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Nicomedes II Epiphanes was the king of Bithynia from 149 to c. 127 BC. He was fourth in descent from Nicomedes I. Nicomedes II was the son and successor of Prusias II and Apame IV. His parents were related as they were maternal cousins.
Prusias II Cynegus was the Greek king of Bithynia. He was the son and successor of Prusias I and Apama III.
The Kingdom of Pergamon, Pergamene Kingdom, or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty.
Attalus IIIPhilometor Euergetes was the last Attalid king of Pergamon, ruling from 138 BC to 133 BC.
Eumenes II Soter was a ruler of Pergamon, and a son of Attalus I Soter and queen Apollonis and a member of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon.
Eumenes III was a pretender to the throne of Pergamon. He led the revolt against the Pergamene regime and found success early on, seizing various cities near the coast of Anatolia, including the island of Samos, and killing the Roman Consul Publius Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus. However, the revolt was eventually quelled by the Roman Republic in 129 BC when it dispatched the experienced Marcus Perperna to the region.
Pharnaces I was the fifth king of Pontus. Of Persian and Greek ancestry, he was the son of King Mithridates III of Pontus and his wife Laodice, whom he succeeded on the throne. Pharnaces had two siblings: a brother called Mithridates IV of Pontus and a sister called Laodice who both succeeded Pharnaces. He was born and raised in the Kingdom of Pontus.
Ariarathes V Eusebes Philopator was a son of the preceding king Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia and queen Antiochis. He was distinguished by his contemporaries for the excellence of his character and his cultivation of philosophy and the liberal arts and is considered by some historians to have been the greatest of the kings of Cappadocia.
Ariarathes IV, surnamed Eusebes, "the Pious",, was the king of Cappadocia in 220–163 BC.
Attalus I, surnamed Soter, was the ruler of the Ionian Greek polis of Pergamon and the larger Pergamene Kingdom from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the adopted son of King Eumenes I, whom he succeeded, and was the first of the Attalid dynasty to assume the title of king, sometime around 240 to 235 BC. He was the son of Attalus and his wife Antiochis.
Pontus was a Hellenistic kingdom centered in the historical region of Pontus in modern-day Turkey, and ruled by the Mithridatic dynasty of Persian origin, which possibly may have been directly related to Darius the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty. The kingdom was proclaimed by Mithridates I in 281 BC and lasted until its conquest by the Roman Republic in 63 BC. The Kingdom of Pontus reached its largest extent under Mithridates VI the Great, who conquered Colchis, Cappadocia, Bithynia, the Greek colonies of the Tauric Chersonesos, and for a brief time the Roman province of Asia. After a long struggle with Rome in the Mithridatic Wars, Pontus was defeated.
Cappadocia was a province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia, with its capital at Caesarea. It was established in 17 AD by the Emperor Tiberius, following the death of Cappadocia's last king, Archelaus.
Stratonice was a princess of Cappadocia and through marriage a queen of Pergamon.
Classical Anatolia is Anatolia during classical antiquity. Early in that period, Anatolia was divided into several Iron Age kingdoms, most notably Lydia in the west, Phrygia in the center and Urartu in the east. Anatolia fell under Achaemenid Persian rule c. 550 BC. In the aftermath of the Greco-Persian Wars, all of Anatolia remained under Persian control except for the Aegean coast, which was incorporated in the Delian League in the 470s BC. Alexander the Great finally wrested control of the whole region from Persia in the 330s BC. After Alexander's death, his conquests were split amongst several of his trusted generals, but were under constant threat of invasion from both the Gauls and other powerful rulers in Pergamon, Pontus, and Egypt.
Antiochis was a Hellenistic princess from the dynasty of the Seleucids and in the first half of the second century BC queen of Cappadocia.
The Kingdom of Bithynia was a Greek kingdom centred in the historical region of Bithynia, which seems to have been established in the fourth century BC. In the midst of the Wars of the Diadochi, Zipoites assumed the title of king (basileus) in 297 BC. His son and successor, Nicomedes I, founded Nicomedia, which soon rose to great prosperity. During his long reign, as well as those of his successors, Prusias I, Prusias II and Nicomedes II, the Kingdom of Bithynia prospered and had a considerable standing and influence among the minor monarchies of Anatolia. But the last king, Nicomedes IV, was unable to maintain himself in power against Mithridates VI of Pontus. After being restored to his throne by the Roman Senate, he bequeathed his kingdom through his will to the Roman republic in 74 BC and it became the province of Bithynia et Pontus in 63 BC.