- Attalus III
Attalus III (in Greek Attalos III) Philometor Euergetes (ca 170 BC – 133 BC) was the last
Attalid king ofPergamon , ruling from 138 BC to 133 BC.He was the son of
Eumenes II and wife Stratonike and the nephew ofAttalus II , whom he succeeded. Married to Berenice (?) (in Greek "Βερενίκη"), they were the parents of a daughter, Princess of Pergamum (it is assumed that this link is a daughter since Attalus III is noted as dying without leaving heirs), who was the mother of Berenice (?), married to Deiotaros I Philoromaios, King ofGalatia . "Philometor Euergetes" means "Loving-his-Mother, Benefactor" in Greek. He was so-called because of his close relationship with his mother Stratonice.Attalus III had little interest in ruling Pergamon, devoting his time to studying
medicine ,botany ,gardening , and other pursuits. He had no male children or heirs of his own, and in his will he left the kingdom to theRoman Republic .Tiberius Gracchus requested that the treasury of Pergamon be opened up to the Roman public, but the Senate refused this.Not everyone in Pergamon accepted Rome's rule.
Aristonicus , who claimed to be Attalus' brother as well as the son ofEumenes II , an earlier king, led a revolt among the lower classes with the help ofBlossius . The revolt was put down in 129 BC, and Pergamon was divided among Rome,Pontus , andCappadocia .References
*Hansen, Esther V. (1971). "The Attalids of Pergamon". Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press; London: Cornell University Press Ltd. ISBN 0-8014-0615-3.
*Kosmetatou, Elizabeth (2003) "The Attalids of Pergamon," in Andrew Erskine, ed., "A Companion to the Hellenistic World". Oxford: Blackwell: pp. 159–174. ISBN 1-4051-3278-7. [http://books.google.com/books?id=c1-SvffPjUUC&pg=PA159&dq=kosmetatou&ei=5n0sSPeUPIuOywSjx6XLAw&sig=1cqZNmNUIlpKQecTZeac2XRwn5M text]
*Christian Settipani , Les Ancêtres de Charlemagne (France: Éditions Christian, 1989).
*Simon Hornblower and Tony Spawforth, Who's Who (Classical World), pg. 61.
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