ATTALIDS. -
Dynasty of the kings of Pergamum in the Hellenistic period (282-133 B.C.).
Its founder was PHILETAERUS (282-262), who was succeeded by EUMENES I (262-241), and the latter by his nephew ATTALUS I. He defeated the Galatians and, having definitively freed himself Seleucids (v.), assumed the title of king and concluded with the Romans that alliance which determined the course of the kingdom’s entire subsequent development. He died in 1977 in the midst of his most glorious enterprises, while fighting for the freedom of the Greeks (Polybius, XVIII, 41, 9), an example of political wisdom, personal courage, and family virtues.
After his first son, EUMENES II (197-159), a second son, ATTALUS II (159-138), succeeded him. He led a very active life, but, although often involved in wars, he did not neglect the arts of peace. To Attalus II (I Mach. 15, 22), following the embassy sent to Rome by the high priest Simon, the Romans wrote, recommending the Jewish people to him (139 or 138). ATTALUS III, his successor (son of his brother Eumenes II), lived amid eccentricities and wickedness of every kind, the result more of illness than of depravity. He died in 133 B.C., instituting the Romans as heirs to the kingdom and all his possessions; they made Asia (v.).
The A., with the exception of the last, were wise and enlightened sovereigns, liberal with their wealth, which became proverbial, and lovers and protectors of letters and the arts. Through their virtues, Pergamum (v.), with its great royal library, became one of the beacons of Hellenistic civilization and the driving centre of new scientific, literary, and artistic currents.