Attalus III
Attalus III Philometor Euergetes was the last
Attalid king of
Pergamon, ruling from
138 BC to
133 BC.
He was the son of
Eumenes II and the nephew of
Attalus II, whom he succeeded. Attalus III had little interest in ruling Pergamon, devoting his time to studying
medicine,
botany,
gardening, and other pursuits. He had no children or heirs of his own, and in his
will he left the kingdom to the
Roman 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 of
Eumenes II, an earlier king, led a revolt among the lower classes with the help of
Blossius. The revolt was put down in
129 BC, and Pergamon was divided among Rome,
Pontus, and
Cappadocia.
*Hansen, Esther V. (1971).
The Attalids of Pergamon. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press; London: Cornell University Press Ltd. ISBN 0801406153.
