23 Facts About Attalus I

Attalus I was the son of Attalus and his wife Antiochis.

Attalus I conducted numerous naval operations, harassing Macedonian interests throughout the Aegean, winning honors, collecting spoils, and gaining for Pergamon possession of the Greek islands of Aegina during the first war, and Andros during the second, twice narrowly escaping capture at the hands of Philip.

Attalus I was a protector of the Greek cities of Anatolia and viewed himself as the champion of Greeks against barbarians.

Attalus I was succeeded as king by his son Eumenes II.

Attalus I was born a Greek, the son of Attalus, and Antiochis.

The elder Attalus I was the son of a brother of both Philetaerus, the founder of the Attalid dynasty, and Eumenes, the father of Eumenes I, Philetaerus' successor; he is mentioned, along with his uncles, as a benefactor of Delphi, won fame as a charioteer, winning at Olympia, and was honored with a monument at Pergamon.

Attalus I however refused to pay them, being the first such ruler to do so.

Attalus I met them near the sources of the river Caicus and won a decisive victory, after which, following the example of Antiochus I, Attalus I took the name of Soter, which means "savior", and claimed the title of king.

Attalus I defeated the Gauls and Antiochus at the Battle of Aphrodisium and again at a second battle in the east.

Attalus I was offered and refused the kingship in favor of Seleucus III's younger brother Antiochus III the Great, who then made Achaeus governor of Seleucid Asia Minor north of the Taurus.

The spoils from Oreus had been reserved for Sulpicius, who returned there, while Attalus I stayed to collect the spoils from Opus.

Attalus I, caught by surprise, was barely able to escape to his ships.

Attalus I was now forced to return to Asia, for he had learned at Opus that, at the instigation of Philip, Prusias I king of Bithynia, related to Philip by marriage, was moving against Pergamon.

Attalus I was included as an adscriptus on the side of Rome.

Finally they voted him such high honors as they had never without great hesitation voted to any of their former benefactors: for, in addition to other compliments, they named a tribe after Attalus I, and classed him among their eponymous heroes.

Sulpicius Galba, now consul, convinced Rome to declare war on Philip and asked Attalus I to meet up with the Roman fleet and again conduct a naval campaign, harassing Macedonian possessions in the Aegean.

Attalus I refused, citing the Aetolians' own refusal to honor Attalus' request to attack Macedonia during Philip's attack on Pergamon two years earlier.

The campaigning season now over, Attalus I attended the Eleusinian Mysteries and then returned to Pergamon having been away for over two years.

Attalus I led his army from Cenchreae through the Isthmus and attacked Corinth from the north, controlling the access to Lechaeum, the Corinthian port on the Gulf of Corinth, the Romans attacked from the east controlling the approaches to Cenchreae, with the Achaeans attacking from the west controlling the access to the city via the Sicyonian gate.

The Achaeans were dismissed, the Romans left for Corcyra, while Attalus I sailed for Piraeus.

At the council Attalus I spoke first, reminding the Boeotians of the many things he and his ancestors had done for them, but during his address he stopped talking and collapsed, with one side of his body paralyzed.

Attalus I was taken back to Pergamon, where he died around the time of the Battle of Cynoscephalae, which brought about the end of the Second Macedonian War.

Attalus I's claims upon a favourable recollection are that, though born of a private family, she became a queen, and retained that exalted rank to the end of her life, not by the use of meretricious fascinations, but by the virtue and integrity of her conduct in private and public life alike.