ATTALIDS. -
Dynasty of the kings of Pergamon of the Hellenistic period (282-133 B.C.).
Its founder was PHILETAERUS (282-262), who was succeeded by EUMENES I (262-241), and he by ATTALUS I, his nephew. The latter defeated the Galatians and, having definitively freed himself from the influence of the Seleucids (v.), assumed the title of king and formed with the Romans that alliance which marked the course of all the subsequent development of the kingdom. He died in 197 in the midst of his finest enterprises, while fighting for the freedom of the Greeks (Polybius, XVIII, 41, 9), an example of political wisdom, personal valor and domestic virtue.
After a first son, EUMENES II (197-159), a second succeeded, ATTALUS II (159-138), who led a very active life, but, though often involved in wars, did not neglect the arts of peace. To Attalus II (I Macc. 15, 22) the Romans, following the embassy sent to Rome by the high priest Simon, wrote commending the Jewish people to him (139 or 138). ATTALUS III, his successor (son of his brother Eumenes II), lived amid eccentricities and villainies of every kind, the effect more of illness than of perversity. He died in 133 B.C., instituting the Romans as heirs of the kingdom and of all his possessions, and they made the kingdom the province of Asia (v.).
The A. were, except for the last, wise, enlightened rulers, liberal with their wealth, which became proverbial, lovers and patrons of letters and the arts. Through their merit the city of Pergamon (v.), with its great royal library, became one of the beacons of Hellenistic civilization and the driving center of new scientific, literary and artistic currents.
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Vincenzo Cavalla