Attalus
- I.A The name of several kings of Pergamos, the most renowned of whom, both from his wealth and his discovery of the art of weaving cloth from gold, was Attalus III., who made the Roman people his heir, Plin. 8, 48, 74, § 196; 33, 11, 53, § 148; Flor. 2, 20, 2; 3, 12, 3; Hor. C. 2, 18, 5.—Hence,
- B Attălĭcus, a, um, adj., of or pertaining to Attalus, Attalian: urbes, i.e. Pergamean, Hor. Ep. 1, 11, 5: Attalicas supera vestes, woven with gold, Prop. 4, 17, 19: Porticus aulaeis nobilis Attalicis, id. 3, 30, 12; Sil. 14, 659.—Also absol.: Attălĭca, ōrum, n. (sc. vestimenta), garments of inwoven gold: Aurum intexere in eādem Asiā invenit Attalus rex, unde nomen Attalicis, Plin. 8, 48, 74, § 196: torus, ornamented with such cloth or tapestry, Prop. 3, 5, 6; 5, 5, 24.—Meton., rich, splendid, brilliant: Attalicis condicionibus Numquam dimoveas, etc., Hor. C. 1, 1, 12: divitiae, Tert. Jejun. 15 fin.—
- II A general of Alexander the Great, Curt. 4, 13. —
- III A Macedonian, enemy of Alexander, Curt. 6, 9.
(Ἄτταλος).
1. One of the generals of Philip of Macedon, and the uncle of Cleopatra, whom Philip married in B. C. 337. He is called by Justin (9.5), and in one passage of Diodorus (17.2), the brother of Cleopatra; but this is undoubtedly a mistake. (Wess. ad Diod. 16.93, 17.2.) At the festivities in celebration of the marriage of his niece, Attalus, when the guests were heated with wine, called upon the company to beg of the gods a legitimate (ψνήσιος) successor to the throne. This roused the wrath of Alexander who was present, and a brawl ensued, in which Philip drew his sword and rushed upon his son. Alexander and his mother Olympias withdrew from the kingdom (Plut. Alex. 7; Justin, 9.7; Athen. 13.557d. e.); but though they soon afterwards returned, the influence of Attalus does not appear to have been weakened. Philip's connexion with Attalus not only thus involved him in family dissensions, but eventually cost him his life. Attalus had inflicted a grievous outrage upon Pausanias, a youth of noble family, and one of Philip's bodyguard. Pausanias complained to Philip; but, as he was unable to obtain the punishment of the offender, he resolved to be revenged upon the king himself, and accordingly assassinated him at the festival at Aegae in B. C. 336. [Philippus.] (Arist. Pol. 5.8.10; Diod. 16.93; Plut. Alex. 10; Justin, 9.6.) Attalus was in Asia at the time of Philip's death, as he had been previously sent thither, along with Parmenion and Amyntas in the command of some troops, in order to secure the Greek cities in Western Asia to the cause of Philip. (Diod. 16.91; Justin, 9.5.) Attalus could have little hope of obtaining Alexander's pardon, and therefore entered very readily into the proposition of Demosthenes to rebel against the new monarch. But, mistrusting his power, he soon afterwards endeavoured to make terms with Alexander, and sent him the letter which he had received from Demosthenes. This, however, produced no change in the purpose of Alexander, who had previously sent Hecataeus into Asia with orders to arrest Attalus, and convey him to Macedon, or, if this could not be accomplished, to kill him secretly. Hecateus thought it safer to adopt the latter course, and had him assassinated privately. (Diod. 17.2, 3, 5.)
2. Son of Andromenes the Stymphaean, and one of Alexander's officers, was accused with his brothers, Amyntas and Simmias, of having been engaged in the conspiracy of Philotas, B. C. 330, but was acquitted, together with his brothers. [Amyntas, No. 4.] In B. C. 328, Attalus was left with Polysperchon and other officers in Bactria with part of the troops, while the king himself marched against the Sogdians. (Arrian, 4.16.) He accompanied Alexander in his expedition into India, and was employed in several important duties. (Arrian, 4.27, 5.12.) In Alexander's last illness, B. C. 323, he was one of the seven chief officers who passed the night in the temple of Serapis at Babylon, in order to learn from the god whether Alexander should be carried into the temple. (Arrian, 7.26.)
After the death of Alexander, Attalus joined Perdiecas, whose sister, Atalante, he had married. He accompanied his brother-in-law in his unfortunate campaign against Egypt in B. C. 321, and had the command of the fleet. After the murder of Perdiccas, all his friends were condemned to death by the army; Atalante, who was in the camp, was immediately executed, but Attalus escaped his, wife's fate in consequence of his absence with the fleet at Pelusium. He forthwith sailed to Tyre, where the treasures of Perdiccas had been deposited. These, which amounted to as much as 800 talents, were surrendered to him by Archelaus, who had been appointed governor of the town, and by means of these he soon found himself at the head of 10,000 foot and 800 horse. He remained at Tyre for some time, to collect the friends of Perdiccas who had escaped from the army; but then, instead of uniting his forces immediately with those of Alcetas, the brother of Perdiccas, he sailed to the coast of Caria, where he became involved in a contest with the Rhodians, by whom he was completely defeated in a sea-fight. (Diod. 18.37; Arrian, apud Phot. Cod. 92, p. 72a., ed. Bekker.) After this, he joined Alcetas; but their united forces were defeated in Pisidia by Antigonus, who had the conduct of the war against the party of Perdiccas. Alcetas escaped for a time, but Attalus with many others was taken prisoner. (Diod. 18.44, 45.) This happened in B. C. 320; and he and his companions remained in captivity till B. C. 317, when they contrived on one occasion to overpower their guards, and obtain possession of the castle in which they were confined. Before they could effect their escape, the castle was surrounded with troops from the neighbourhood. They continued, however, to defend it for a year and four months; but at length were obliged to yield to superior numbers. (Diod. 19.16.) We do not hear of Attalus after this: his daughters were with Olympias in B. C. 317. (Diod. 19.35.)
3. Arrian speaks (2.9, 3.12) of an Attalus who was the commander of the Agrianians in Alexander's army at the battles of Issus, B. C. 333, and Guagamela, B. C. 331. He seems to be a different person firm the son of Andromenes.
4. One of the chief officers in the infantry of Alexander. After the death of Alexander, B. C. 323, the infantry were dissatisfied with the arrangements made by Alexander's generals; and in the tumult which ensued, Attalus, according to Justin (13.3) sent persons to murder Perdiccas, though this is generally attributed to Meleager. He is again mentioned in the mutiny of the army at Triparadisus after the death of Perdiccas in B. C. 321. (Arrian, apud Phot. Cod. 92, p. 71b. 10.) It is evident, from both of these circumstances, that this Attalus must be a different person from the son of Andromenes.
the name of three kings of Pergamus.
Attalus I. was the son of Attalus, the brother of Philetaerus, and Antiochis, daughter of Achaeus (not the cousin of Antiochus the Great). [Eumenes.] He succeeded his cousin, Eumenes I., in B. C. 241. He was the first of the Asiatic princes who ventured to make head against the Gauls, over whom he gained a decisive victory. After this success, he assumed the title of king (Strab. xiii. p.624; Paus. 1.8.1, 10.15.3; Liv. 38.16; Plb. 18.24), and dedicated a sculptured representation of his victory in the Acropolis at Athens. (Paus. 1.25.2.) He took advantage of the disputes in the family of the Seleucidae, and in B. C. 229 conquered Antiochus Hierax in several battles. (Porphyr. apud Euseb. Graec. p. 186; Euseb. Chron. Arm. p. 347.) Before the accession of Seleucus Ceraunus (B. C. 226), he had made himself master of the whole of Asia Minor west of mount Taurus. Seleucus immediately attacked him, and by B. C. 221 Achaeus [Achaeus] had reduced his dominions to the limits of Pergamus itself. (Plb. 4.48.)
On the breaking out of the war between the Rhodians and Byzantines (B. C. 220), Attalus took part with the latter, who had done their utmost to bring about a peace between him and Achaeus (Plb. 4.49), but he was unable to render them any effective assistance. In B. C. 218, with the aid of a body of Gaulish mercenaries, he recovered several cities in Aeolis and the neighbouring districts, but was stopped in the midst of his successes by an eclipse of the sun, which so alarmed the Gauls, that they refused to proceed. (Plb. 5.77, 78.) In B. C. 216, he entered into an alliance with Antiochus the Great against Achaeus. (5.107.) In B. C. 211, he joined the alliance of the Romans and Aetolians against Philip and the Achaeans. (Liv. 26.24.) In 209, he was made praetor of the Aetolians conjointly with Pyrrhias, and in the following year joined Sulpicius with a fleet. After wintering at Aegina, in 207 he overran Peparethus, assisted in the capture of Oreus, and took Opus. While engaged in collecting tribute in the neighbourhood of this town, he narrowly escaped falling into Philip's hands; and hearing that Prusias, king of Bithynia, had invaded Pergamus, he returned to Asia. (Liv. 27.29, 30, 33, 28.3-7; Plb. 10.41, 42.)
In B. C. 205, in obedience to an injunction of the Sibylline books, the Romans sent an embassy to Asia to bring away the Idaean Mother from Pessinus in Phrygia. Attains received them graciously and assisted them in procuring the black stone which was the symbol of the goddess. (Liv. 29.10, 11.) At the general peace brought about in 204, Prusias and Attalus were included, the former as the ally of Philip, the latter as the ally of the Romans. (29.12.) On the breaking out of hostilities between Philip and the Rhodians, Attalus took part with the latter; and in B. C. 201, Philip invaded and ravaged his territories, but was unable to take the city of Pergamus. A sea-fight ensued, off Chios, between the fleet of Philip and the combined fleets of Attalus and the Rhodians, in which Philip was in fact defeated with considerable loss, though he found a pretext for claiming a victory, because Attalus, having incautiously pursued a Macedonian vessel too far, was compelled to abandon his own, and make his escape by land. After another ineffectual attempt upon Pergamus, Philip retired. (Plb. 16.1_8; Liv. 32.33.)
In 200, Attalus, at the invitation of the Athenians, crossed over to Athens, where the most flattering honours were paid him. A new tribe was created and named Attalis after him. At Athens he met a Roman embassy, and war was formally declared against Philip. (Plb. 16.25, 26; Liv. 31.14, 15; Paus. 1.5.5, 8.1.) In the same year, Attalus made some ineffectual attempts; to relieve Abydos, which was besieged by Philip. (Plb. 16.25, 30_34.) In the campaign of 199, he joined the Romans with a fleet and troops. Their combined forces took Oreus in Euboea. (Liv. 31.44_47.) Attalus then returned to Asia to repel the aggressions of Antiochus III., who had taken the opportunity of his absence to attack Pergamus, but was induced to desist by the remonstrances of the Romans. (Liv. 31.45_47, 32.8, 27.)
In 198, Attalus again joined the Romans, and, after the campaign, wintered in Aegina. In the spring of 197, he attended an assembly held at Thebes for the purpose of detaching the Boeotians from the cause of Philip, and in the midst of his speech was struck with apoplexy. He was conveyed to Pergamus, and died the same year, in the seventy-second year of his age, after a reign of forty-four years. (Liv. 32.16, 19, 23, 24, 33, 33.2, 21; Plb. 17.2, 8, 16, 18.24, 22.2, &c.) As a ruler, his conduct was marked by wisdom and justice; he was a faithful ally, a generous friend, and an affectionate husband and father. He encouraged the arts and sciences. (D. L. 4.8; Athen. 15.697; Plin. Nat. 8.74, 34.19.24, 35.49.) By his wife, Apollonias or Apollonis, he had four sons: Eumenes, who succeeded him, Attalus, Philetaerus, and Athenaeus.
Surnamed Philadelphus, was the second son of Attalus I., and was born in B. C. 200. (Lucian, Macrob. 12; Strab. xiii. p.624.) Before his accession to the crown, we frequently find him employed by his brother Eumenes in military operations. In B. C. 190, during the absence of Eumenes, he resisted an invasion of Seleucus, the son of Antiochus, and was afterwards present at the battle of Mount Sipylus. (Liv. 37.18, 43.) In B. C. 189, he accompanied the consul Cn. Manlius Vulso in his expedition into Galatia. (Liv. 38.12; Plb. 22.22.) In 182, he served his brother in his war with Pharnaces. (Plb. 25.4, 6.) In 171, with Eumenes and Athenaeus, he joined the consul P. Licinius Crassus in Greece. (Liv. 42.55, 58, 65.) He was several times sent to Rome as ambassador: in B. C. 192, to announce that Antiochus had crossed the Hellespont (Liv. 35.23); in 181, during the war between Eumenes and Pharnaces (Plb. 25.6); in 167, to congratulate the Romans on their victory over Perseus. Eumenes being in ill-favour at Rome at this time, Attalus was encouraged with hopes of getting the kingdom for himself; but was induced, by the remonstrances of a physician named Stratius, to abandon his designs. (Liv. 45.19, 20; Plb. 30.1-3.) In 164 and 160, he was again sent to Rome. (Plb. 31.9, 32.3, 5.)
Attalus succeeded his brother Eumenes in B. C. 159. His first undertaking was the restoration of Ariarathes to his kingdom. (Plb. 32.23.) In 156, he was attacked by Prusias, and found himself compelled to call in the assistance of the Romans and his allies, Ariarathes and Mithridates. In B. C. 154, Prusias was compelled by the threats of the Romans to grant peace, and indemnify Attalus for the losses he had sustained. (Plb. 3.5, 32.25, &c., 33.1, 6, 10, 11; Appian, App. Mith. 3, &c.; Diod. xxxi. Exc. p. 589.) In 152, he sent some troops to aid Alexander Balas in usurping the throne of Syria (Porphyr. apud Euseb. p. 187; Just. 35.1), and in 149 he assisted Nicomedes against his father Prusias. He was also engaged in hostilities with, and conquered, Diegylis, a Thracian prince, the father-in-law of Prusias (Diod. xxxiii. Exc. p. 595, &c.; Strab. xiii. p.624), and sent some auxiliary troops to the Romans, which assisted them in expelling the pseudo-Philip and in taking Corinth. (Strab. l.c.; Paus. 7.16.8.) During the latter part of his life, he resigned himself to the guidance of his minister, Philopoemen. (Plut. Mor. p. 792.) He founded Philadelphia in Lydia (Steph. Byz. s.v.) and Attaleia in Pamphylia. (Strab. xiv. p.667.) He encouraged the arts and sciences, and was himself the inventor of a kind of embroidery. (Plin. Nat. 7.39, 35.36.19, 8.74; Athen. 8.346, xiv. p. 634.) He died B. C. 138, aged eighty-two.
Surnamed Philometor, was the son of Eumenes II. and Stratonice, daughter of Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia. While yet a boy, he was brought to Rome (B. C. 152), and presented to the senate at the same time with Alexander Balas. He succeeded his uncle Attalus II. B. C. 138. He is known to us chiefly for the extravagance of his conduct and the murder of his relations and friends. At last, seized with remorse, he abandoned all public business, and devoted himself to sculpture, statuary, and gardening, on which he wrote a work. He died B. C. 133 of a fever, with which he was seized in consequence of exposing himself to the sun's rays while engaged in erecting a monument to his mother. In his will, he made the Romans his heirs. (Strab. xiii. p.624; Plb. 33.16; Just. 36.14; Diod. xxxiv. Exc. p. 601; Varro, R. R. Praef.; Columell. 1.1.8; Plin. Nat. 18.5; Liv. Epit. 58; Plut. TG 14; Vell. 2.4; Florus, 2.20; Appian. Mithr. 62, Bell. Civ. 5.4.) His kingdom was claimed by Aristonicus. [Aristonicus.] [C.P.M]
emperor of the West for one year (A. D. 409, 410), the first raised to that office purely by the influence of barbarians. He was born in Ionia, brought up as a Pagan (Philostorgius, 12.3), and received baptism from an Arian bishop. (Sozomen, Hist. Eccl. 9.9.) Having become senator and praefect of the city at the time of Alaric's second siege of Rome, he was, after the surrender of the place, declared emperor by the Gothic king and his army, in the place of Honorius, and conducted by them in state to Ravenna, where he sent an insulting message to Honorius, commanding him to vacate the throne, amputate his extremities, and retire to a desolate island. (Philostorgius, 12.3.) But the union of pride and folly which he had shewn in the first days of his reign, by proposing to reannex Egypt and the East to the empire (Sozomen, Hist. Eccl. 9.8), and later by adopting measures without Alaric's advice, induced the Gothic chief to depose him on the plain of Ariminum. (Zosimus, 6.6-13.) After the death of Alaric, he remained in the camp of Ataulphus, whom, as emperor, he had made count of the domestics, and whose nuptials with Placidia he celebrated as a musician. He was again put forward by Ataulphus as a rival emperor, during the insurrection of Jovinus, but on being abandoned by him (Olympiod. apud Phot. p. 58), was taken prisoner, and on being brought before the tribunal of Honorius, was condemned to a sentence with which he had himself threatened Honorius in his former prosperity, viz. the amputation of his thumb and forefinger, and perpetual banishment to the island of Lipari, A. D. 416. (Philostorgius, 12.4, with Godefroy's Dissertations.)
There is in the British Museum a silver coin of this emperor, once in the collection of Cardinal Albano, and supposed to be unique. It is remarkable as exceeding in size all known ancient silver coins, and weighs about 1203 grains, and in the usual numismatic language would be represented by the number 13 3/4.
The obverse is, PRISCUS. ATTALVS. P. F. AUG., a protome of Attalus, turned to the right, wearing a fillet ornamented with pearls round his forehead, and the paludamentum fastened across the right shoulder with the usual bulla.
The reverse is, INVICTA. ROMA. AETERNA. R. .M. Rome, helmeted and draped to the feet, sitting in front on a chair ornamented on each side with lions' heads; in the right hand she holds a globe, on which a small Victory is standing and holding in her right hand a crown and in her left a branch of palm; the left rests upon a spear with a long iron head, and inverted.
[A.P.S]
literary.
1. A Stoic philosopher in the reign of Tiberius, who was defrauded of his property by Sejanus, and reduced to cultivate the ground. (Senec. Suas. 2. p. 17, ed. Bip.) He taught the philosopher Seneca (Ep. 108), who frequently quotes him, and speaks of him in the highest terms. (Comp. Nat. Quaest. 2.50, Ep. 9, 63, 67, 72, 81, 109.) The elder Seneca describes him (Suas. l.c.) as a man of great eloquence, and by far the acutest philosopher of his age. We have mention of a work of his on lightning (Nat. Quaest. 2.48); and it is supposed that he may be the author of the Παροιμίαι referred to by Hesychius (s. v. Κορίννουσι) as written by one Attalus.
2. A Sophist in the second century of the Christian era, the son of Polemon, and grandfather of the Sophist Hermocrates. (Philostr. Vit. Soph. 2.25.2.) His name occurs on the coins of Smyrna, which are figured in Olearius's edition of Philostratus (p. 609). They contain the inscription ΑΤΤΑΔΟΣ ΣΟΦΙΣ. ΤΑΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΣΙ ΣΜΥΡ. ΔΑΟΚ., which is interpreted, " Attalus, the Sophist, to his native cities Smyrna and Laodicea." The latter is conjectured to have been the place of his birth, the former to have adopted him as a citizen.
(Ἄτταλος), a physician at Rome in the second century after Christ, who was a pupil of Soranus, and belonged to the sect of the Methodici. He is mentioned by Galen (de Meth. Med. 13.15. vol. x. p. 910, &c.) as having mistaken the disease of which the Stoic philosopher Theagenes died. [W.A.G]
(Ἄτταλος), an Athenian statuary, the son of Andragathus. Pausanias (2.19.3) mentions a statue of Apollo Lykeios, in the temple of that god at Argos, which was made by him. His name has been found on a statue discovered on the site of the theatre at Argos (Böckh, Corp. Ins. No. 1146), and on a bust. (Welcker, Kunsblatt, 1827, No. 82.) [C.P.M]
The name of several kings of Pergamus. (1) Son of Attalus, a brother of Philetaerus, succeeded his cousin Eumenes I., and reigned B.C. 241-197. He took part with the Romans in the struggle against Philip and the Achaeans. He was a wise and just prince, and was distinguished by his patronage of literature.
(2) Surnamed Philadelphus, second son of Attalus, succeeded his brother Eumenes II., and reigned B.C. 159-138. Like his father, he was an ally of the Romans, and also encouraged the arts and sciences.
(3) Surnamed Philomētor, son of Eumenes II. and Stratonicé, succeeded his uncle Attalus II., and reigned B.C. 138-133. In his will he made the Romans his heirs, but his kingdom was claimed by Aristonicus. See Aristonicus.
- Paus. 2.19.3
- son of Attalus, king of Pergamus: Paus. 1.8.1
- defeats Gauls: Paus. 1.8.1, Paus. 10.15.3
- called `son of a bull' and `bull-horned' in oracles: Paus. 10.15.3
- ally of Athens: Paus. 1.36.5
- Athenian tribe called after him: Paus. 1.5.5, Paus. 1.8.1
- his offerings on Acropolis: Paus. 1.25.2
- his chamber at Pergamus: Paus. 9.35.6
- king of Pergamus, ally of Romans: Paus. 7.8.9, Paus. 7.16.1
- Paus. 8.7.7
- Paus. 1.8.1