A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

410 ATTALUS.

ATTALUS.

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. xviii. 37;
Arrian, ap. Phot. Cod. 92, p. 72, a., 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 Attalns
with many others was taken prisoner. (Diod. xviii.
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. xix. 16.) We do not hear of
Attalus after this: his daughters were with Olympins in B. c. 317. (Diod. xix. 35.)
3. Arrian speaks (ii. 9, iii. 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
from 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 (xiii. 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, ap. Phot. Cod. 92, p. 71, b. 10.) It
is evident, from both of these circumstances, that
this Attalus must be a different person from the
son of Andromenes.
ATTALUS, the name of three kings of Pergamus. I. Was the son of Attalus, the brother
of Philetaerus, and Antiochis, daughter of Achaeus
(not the cousin ofAntiochus 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. i. 8. ~ 1, x. 15. ~ 3; Liv. xxxviii. 16; Polyb. xviii. 24), and dedicated a sculptured representation of his victory in the Acropolis at Athens.
(Paus. i. 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. ap. Euseb. Graec. p. 186; Euseb. C/ron.
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. (Polyb. iv.
48.)
On the breaking out of the war between the Rhodians and Byzantines (.c. 220), Attalus took part

with the latter, who had done their utmost to bring
about a peace between him and Achaeus (Polyb.
iv. 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. (Polyb. v. 77, 78.)
In B. c. 216, he entered into an alliance with
Antiochus the Great against Achaeus. (v. 107.)
In B. c. 211, he joined the alliance of the Romans
and Aetolians against Philip and the Achaeans.
(Liv. xxvi. 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. xxvii. 29, 30, 33, xxviii.
3-7; Polyb. x. 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. xxix.
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. (xxix. 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. (Polyb. xvi. 1-8; Liv. xxxii. 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. (Polyb. xvi. 25, 26; Liv.
xxxi. 14, 15; Paus. i. 5. ~ 5, 8. ~ 1.) In the
same year, Attalus made some ineffectual attempts
to relieve Abydos, which was besieged by Philip.
(Polyb. xvi. 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.
xxxi. 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. xxxi. 45-47,
xxxii. 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 con