PERGAMUM. — In the New Testament, P. is mentioned in Rev. 1, 11 and 2, 12 (Περγαμος) as the seat of a flourishing Christian community, which had long since (ibid. 2, 13) given to Christ the testimony of martyrdom. That of Antipas (v.) is perhaps only an illustrious case, taken as a model. The evangelization of P. may have been carried out by emissaries of Paul or through the spontaneous zeal of converts during his preaching in Ephesus (54–57).
Ephesus attracted foreigners from all over Asia for the Artemisia (v. DIANA); thus this city was well-suited to become a center for the spread of Christianity. The rapid progress of the Gospel in the province is indicated by the greetings from the "Churches of Asia" already in 1 Cor. 16, 19. Moreover, Paul’s custom of investing the major centers of the regions to be evangelized, and his sending of Epaphras (v.) to the Phrygian cities of Colossae (v.), Laodicea (v.), and Hierapolis, leads one to believe that he did not neglect the famous city of Mysia. At that time, however, P.’s splendor was fading in comparison to its rival Ephesus (v.), which had become the most important city of the province and the seat of the proconsul. Perhaps for this reason Ephesus is named first among the seven Churches (Rev. 1, 11), while P. is third, after Smyrna.
The earliest Christian converts in P. may have been, as elsewhere, among the Jews (a Jewish community in P. is attested by Flavius Josephus, *Antiquitates Iudaicae*, XIV, 10, 22); but the Gentile-Christian element soon became predominant, as can be inferred from the characteristics of those Nicolaitans (v.), who were a scandal to the community, comparable to the harm done by Balaam to Israel: idolatry and fornication (Rev. 2, 14–15).
The entire letter addressed to the Church of P. fits well within this context. The imperial power, there deified, is contrasted with the power of Christ; to the *ius gladii* of Rome’s representative, who persecuted the Church, is opposed the two-edged sword of Christ (ibid. 2, 12). That P. could be considered the "throne of Satan" and the place where Satan dwells (ibid. 2, 13) is explained by the various idolatrous practices that took place in the many temples scattered along the slopes of the Acropolis and in the lower city.
The Acropolis itself resembles a colossal throne rising between the valleys of the Caicus and the Selinus. But above all, the altar of Zeus was famous. The cult of Asclepius, with the emblem of the serpent, may have evoked Gen. 3, 1 (cf. Rev. 12, 9; 20, 2).
Caius (or Gaius [v.]), to whom the Third Epistle of John is addressed, is said to have been bishop of P., according to the *Apostolic Constitutions* (VII, 46; PG 1, 1053).