= Pergamon =

======================================================================
= Pergamon =
======================================================================

Introduction
======================================================================
Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek
form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in
Aeolis. It is located 26 km from the modern coastline of the Aegean
Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus (modern-day
Bakırçay) and northwest of the modern city of Bergama, Turkey.

During the Hellenistic period, it became the capital of the Kingdom of
Pergamon in 281-133 BC under the Attalid dynasty, who transformed it
into one of the major cultural centres of the Greek world. Many
remains of its monuments can still be seen and especially the
masterpiece of the Pergamon Altar. Pergamon was the northernmost of
the seven churches of Asia cited in the New Testament Book of
Revelation.

The city is centered on a 335 m mesa of andesite, which formed its
acropolis. This mesa falls away sharply on the north, west, and east
sides, but three natural terraces on the south side provide a route up
to the top. To the west of the acropolis, the Selinus River (modern
Bergamaçay) flows through the city, while the Cetius river (modern
Kestelçay) passes by to the east.

Pergamon was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014.

Location
======================================================================
Pergamon lies on the north edge of the Caicus plain in the historic
region of Mysia in the northwest of Turkey. The Caicus river breaks
through the surrounding mountains and hills at this point and flows in
a wide arc to the southwest. At the foot of the mountain range to the
north, between the rivers Selinus and Cetius, there is the massif of
Pergamon which rises 335 metres above sea level. The site is only 26
km from the sea, but the Caicus plain is not open to the sea, since
the way is blocked by the Karadağ massif. As a result, the area has a
strongly inland character. In Hellenistic times, the town of Elaia at
the mouth of the Caicus served as the port of Pergamon. The climate is
Mediterranean with a dry period from May to August, as is common along
the west coast of Asia Minor.

The Caicus valley is mostly composed of volcanic rock, particularly
andesite, and the Pergamon massif is also an intrusive stock of
andesite. The massif is about one kilometre wide and around 5.5 km
long from north to south. It consists of a broad, elongated base and a
relatively small peak - the upper city. The side facing the Cetius
river is a sharp cliff, while the side facing the Selinus is a little
rough. On the north side, the rock forms a 70 m wide spur of rock. To
the southeast of this spur, which is known as the 'Garden of the
Queen', the massif reaches its greatest height and breaks off suddenly
immediately to the east. The upper city extends for another 250 m to
the south, but it remains very narrow, with a width of only 150 m. At
its south end the massif falls gradually to the east and south,
widening to around 350 m and then descends to the plain towards the
southwest.

Pre-Hellenistic period
========================
Earlier habitation in the Bronze Age cannot be demonstrated, although
Bronze Age stone tools are found in the surrounding area.

Settlement of Pergamon can be detected as far back as the Archaic
period, thanks to modest archaeological finds, especially fragments of
pottery imported from the west, particularly eastern Greece and
Corinth, which date to the late 8th century BC.

The earliest mention of Pergamon in literary sources comes from
Xenophon's 'Anabasis', since the march of the Ten Thousand under
Xenophon's command ended at Pergamon in 400/399 BC.
Xenophon, 'Anabasis'
[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Xen.+Anab.+7.8.8
7.8.8]; 'Hellenica'
[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Xen.+Hell.+3.1.6
3.1.6]. Xenophon, who calls the city Pergamos, handed over the rest of
his Greek troops (some 5,000 men according to Diodorus) to Thibron,
who was planning an expedition against the Persian satraps
Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus, at this location in March 399 BC. At
this time Pergamon was in the possession of the family of Gongylos
from Eretria, a Greek favourable to the Achaemenid Empire who had
taken refuge in Asia Minor and obtained the territory of Pergamon from
Xerxes I, and Xenophon was hosted by his widow Hellas.

In 362 BC, Orontes, satrap of Mysia, used Pergamon as his base for an
unsuccessful revolt against the Persian Empire. Only with Alexander
the Great were Pergamon and the surrounding area removed from Persian
control. There are few traces of the pre-Hellenistic city, since in
the following period the terrain was profoundly changed and the
construction of broad terraces involved the removal of almost all
earlier structures. Parts of the temple of Athena, as well as the
walls and foundations of the altar in the sanctuary of Demeter, go
back to the fourth century.

MYSIA, Pergamon. Mid 5th century BCE.jpg|Possible coinage of the Greek
ruler Gongylos, wearing the Persian cap on the reverse, as ruler of
Pergamon for the Achaemenid Empire. Pergamon, Mysia, circa 450 BC. The
name of the city ΠΕΡΓ ("PERG"), appears for the first on this coinage,
and is the first evidence for the name of the city.
MYSIA, Adramyteion. Orontes, Satrap of Mysia. Circa 357-352
BC.jpg|Coin of Orontes, Achaemenid Satrap of Mysia (including
Pergamon), Adramyteion. Circa 357-352 BC

Hellenistic period
====================
Lysimachus, King of Thrace, took possession in 301 BC, and the town
was enlarged by his lieutenant Philetaerus. In 281 BC the kingdom of
Thrace collapsed and Philetaerus became an independent ruler, founding
the Attalid dynasty. His family ruled Pergamon from 281 until 133 BC:
Philetaerus 281-263; Eumenes I 263-241; Attalus I 241-197; Eumenes II
197-159; Attalus II 159-138; and Attalus III 138-133. Philetaerus
controlled only Pergamon and its immediate environs, but the city
acquired much new territory under Eumenes I. In particular, after the
Battle of Sardis in 261 BC against Antiochus I, Eumenes was able to
appropriate the area down to the coast and some way inland. Despite
this increase of his domain, Eumenes did not take a royal title. In
238 his successor Attalus I defeated the Galatians, to whom Pergamon
had paid tribute under Eumenes I. Attalus thereafter declared himself
leader of an entirely independent Pergamene kingdom.

The Attalids became some of the most loyal supporters of Rome in the
Hellenistic world. Attalus I allied with Rome against Philip V of
Macedon, during the first and second Macedonian Wars. In the
Roman-Seleucid War, Pergamon joined the Romans' coalition against
Antiochus III, and was rewarded with almost all the former Seleucid
domains in Asia Minor at the Peace of Apamea in 188 BC. The kingdom's
territories thus reached their greatest extent. Eumenes II supported
Rome again in the Third Macedonian War, but the Romans heard rumours
of his conducting secret negotiations with their opponent Perseus of
Macedon. On this basis, Rome denied any reward to Pergamon and
attempted to replace Eumenes with the future Attalus II, who refused
to cooperate. These incidents cost Pergamon its privileged status with
the Romans, who granted it no further territory.

Nevertheless, under the brothers Eumenes II and Attalus II, Pergamon
reached its apex and was rebuilt on a monumental scale. It had
retained the same dimensions for a long interval after its founding by
Philetaerus, covering c. 21 ha. After 188 BC a massive new city wall
was constructed, 4 km long and enclosing an area of approximately 90
ha. The Attalids' goal was to create a second Athens, a cultural and
artistic hub of the Greek world. They remodeled their Acropolis after
the Acropolis in Athens, and the Library of Pergamon was renowned as
second only to the Library of Alexandria. Pergamon was also a
flourishing center for the production of parchment, whose name is a
corruption of 'pergamenos', meaning "from Pergamon". Despite this
etymology, parchment had been used in Asia Minor long before the rise
of the city; the story that it was invented by the Pergamenes, to
circumvent the Ptolemies' monopoly on papyrus production, is not true.
In fact, parchment had been in use in Anatolia and elsewhere long
before the rise of Pergamon.

Surviving epigraphic documents show how the Attalids supported the
growth of towns by sending in skilled artisans and by remitting taxes.
They allowed the Greek cities in their domains to maintain nominal
independence, and sent gifts to Greek cultural sites like Delphi,
Delos, and Athens. The two brothers Eumenes II and Attalus II
displayed the most distinctive trait of the Attalids: a pronounced
sense of family without rivalry or intrigue - rare amongst the
Hellenistic dynasties. Attalus II bore the epithet 'Philadelphos', 'he
who loves his brother', and his relations with Eumenes II were
compared to the harmony between the mythical brothers Cleobis and
Biton.

When Attalus III died without an heir in 133 BC, he bequeathed the
whole of Pergamon to Rome. This was challenged by Aristonicus, who
claimed to be Attalus III's brother and led an armed uprising against
the Romans with the help of Blossius, a famous Stoic philosopher. For
a period he enjoyed success, defeating and killing the Roman consul P.
Licinius Crassus and his army, but he was defeated in 129 BC by the
consul M. Perperna. The Attalid kingdom was divided between Rome,
Pontus, and Cappadocia, with the bulk of its territory becoming the
new Roman province of Asia. The city itself was declared free and
served briefly as capital of the province, before this distinction was
transferred to Ephesus.

Roman period
==============
In 88 BC, Mithridates VI Eupator made Pergamon his headquarters in his
first war against Rome, in which he was defeated. The victorious
Romans deprived Pergamon of all its benefits and of its status as a
free city. Henceforth the city was required to pay tribute and
accommodate and supply Roman troops, and the property of many of the
inhabitants was confiscated. Imported Pergamene goods were among the
luxuries enjoyed by Lucullus. The members of the Pergamene
aristocracy, especially Diodorus Pasparus in the 70s BC, used their
own possessions to maintain good relationships with Rome, by acting as
donors for the development of the city. Numerous honorific
inscriptions indicate Pasparus' work and his exceptional position in
Pergamon at this time.

Pergamon still remained a famous city, and was the seat of a
'conventus' (regional assembly). Its neocorate, granted by Augustus,
was the first manifestation of the imperial cult in the province of
Asia. Pliny the Elder refers to the city as the most important in the
province and the local aristocracy continued to reach the highest
circles of power in the 1st century AD, like Aulus Julius Quadratus
who was consul in 94 and 105.

Yet it was only under Trajan and his successors that a comprehensive
redesign and remodelling took place, with the construction of a Roman
'new city' at the base of the Acropolis. The city was the first in the
province to receive a second neocorate, from Trajan in AD 113/4.
Hadrian raised the city to the rank of metropolis in 123 and thereby
elevated it above its local rivals, Ephesus and Smyrna. An ambitious
building programme was carried out: massive temples, a stadium, a
theatre, a huge forum and an amphitheatre were constructed. In
addition, at the city limits the shrine to Asclepius (the god of
healing) was expanded into a lavish spa. This sanctuary grew in fame
and was considered one of the most famous healing centers of the Roman
world.

In the middle of the 2nd century Pergamon was one of the largest
cities in the province, and had around 200,000 inhabitants. Galen, the
most famous physician of antiquity aside from Hippocrates, was born at
Pergamon and received his early training at the Asclepieion. At the
beginning of the 3rd century Caracalla granted the city a third
neocorate, but a decline had already set in. The economic strength of
Pergamon collapsed during the crisis of the Third Century, as the city
was badly damaged in an earthquake in 262 and was sacked by the Goths
shortly thereafter. In late antiquity, it experienced a limited
economic recovery.

Byzantine period
==================
In AD 663/4, Pergamon was captured by raiding Arabs for the first
time. As a result of the ongoing Arab threat, the area of settlement
retracted to the acropolis, which the Emperor Constans II () fortified
with a 6 m wall built of spolia.

During the middle Byzantine period, the city was part of the
Thracesian Theme, and from the time of Leo VI the Wise () of the Theme
of Samos. 7th-century sources attest an Armenian community in
Pergamon, probably formed of refugees from the Muslim conquests; this
community produced the emperor Philippicus (). In 716, Pergamon was
sacked again by the armies of Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik. It was again
rebuilt and refortified after the Arabs abandoned their Siege of
Constantinople in 717-718.

Pergamon suffered from the Seljuk invasion of western Anatolia after
the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Attacks in 1109 and 1113 largely
destroyed the city, which was only rebuilt, by Emperor Manuel I
Komnenos (), around 1170. It likely became the capital of the new
theme of Neokastra, established by Manuel. Under Isaac II Angelos (),
the local see was promoted to a metropolitan bishopric, having
previously been a suffragan diocese of the Metropolis of Ephesus.

After the Sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade,
Pergamon became part of the Empire of Nicaea. When Emperor Theodore II
Laskaris () visited Pergamon in 1250, he was shown the house of Galen,
but he saw that the theatre had been destroyed and, except for the
walls which he paid some attention to, only the vaults over the
Selinus seemed noteworthy to him. The monuments of the Attalids and
the Romans were only plundered ruins by this time.

With the expansion of the Anatolian beyliks, Pergamon was absorbed
into the beylik of Karasids shortly after 1300, and then conquered by
the Ottoman beylik. The Ottoman Sultan Murad III had two large
alabaster urns transported from the ruins of Pergamon and placed on
two sides of the nave in the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

Pergamon in myth
======================================================================
Pergamon, which traced its founding back to Telephus, the son of
Heracles, is not mentioned in Greek myth or epic of the archaic or
classical periods. However, in the Epic Cycle the Telephus myth is
already connected with the area of Mysia. Searching for his mother,
Telephus visits Mysia on the advice of an oracle. There he becomes
Teuthras' son-in-law or foster-son and inherits his kingdom of
Teuthrania, encompassing the area between Pergamon and the mouth of
the Caicus. Telephus refuses to participate in the Trojan War, but his
son Eurypylus fights on the side of the Trojans. This material was
dealt with in a number of tragedies, such as Aeschylus' 'Mysi',
Sophocles' 'Aleadae', and Euripides' 'Telephus' and 'Auge', but
Pergamon does not seem to have played any role in any of them. The
adaptation of the myth is not entirely smooth.

Thus, on the one hand, Eurypylus who must have been part of the
dynastic line as a result of the appropriation of the myth, was not
mentioned in the hymn sung in honour of Telephus in the Asclepieion.
Otherwise he does not seem to have been paid any heed. But the
Pergamenes made offerings to Telephus and the grave of his mother Auge
was located in Pergamon near the Caicus. Pergamon thus entered the
Trojan epic cycle, with its ruler said to have been an Arcadian who
had fought with Telephus against Agamemnon when he landed at the
Caicus, mistook it for Troy and began to ravage the land.

On the other hand, the story was linked to the foundation of the city
with another myth - that of Pergamus, the eponymous hero of the city.
He also belonged to the broader cycle of myths related to the Trojan
War as the grandson of Achilles through his father Neoptolemus and of
Eetion of Thebe through his mother Andromache (concubine to
Neoptolemus after the death of Hector of Troy). With his mother, he
was said to have fled to Mysia where he killed the ruler of Teuthrania
and gave the city his own name. There he built a heroon for his mother
after her death. In a less heroic version, Grynos the son of Eurypylus
named a city after him in gratitude for a favour. These mythic
connections seem to be late and are not attested before the 3rd
century BC. Pergamus' role remained subordinate, although he did
receive some cult worship. Beginning in the Roman period, his image
appears on civic coinage and he is said to have had a heroon in the
city. Even so, he provided a further, deliberately crafted link to the
world of Homeric epic. Mithridates VI was celebrated in the city as a
new Pergamus.

However, for the Attalids, it was apparently the genealogical
connection to Heracles that was crucial, since all the other
Hellenistic dynasties had long established such links: the Ptolemies
derived themselves directly from Heracles, the Antigonids inserted
Heracles into their family tree in the reign of Philip V at the end of
the 3rd century BC at the latest, and the Seleucids claimed descent
from Apollo. All of these claims derive their significance from
Alexander the Great, who claimed descent from Heracles, through his
father Philip II.

In their constructive adaptation of the myth, the Attalids stood
within the tradition of the other, older Hellenistic dynasties, who
legitimized themselves through divine descent, and sought to increase
their own prestige. The inhabitants of Pergamon enthusiastically
followed their lead and took to calling themselves 'Telephidai' () and
referring to Pergamon itself in poetic registers as the 'Telephian
city' ().

History of research and excavation
======================================================================
The first mention of Pergamon in written records after ancient times
comes from the 13th century. Beginning with Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli in
the 15th century, ever more travellers visited the place and published
their accounts of it. The key description is that of Thomas Smith, who
visited the Levant in 1668 and transmitted a detailed description of
Pergamon, to which the great 17th century travellers Jacob Spon and
George Wheler were able to add nothing significant in their own
accounts.

In the late 18th century, these visits were reinforced by a scholarly
(especially ancient historical) desire for research, epitomised by
Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier, a traveller in
Asia Minor and French ambassador to the Sublime Porte in Istanbul from
1784 to 1791. At the beginning of the 19th century, Charles Robert
Cockerell produced a detailed account and Otto Magnus von Stackelberg
made important sketches. A proper, multi-page description with plans,
elevations, and views of the city and its ruins was first produced by
Charles Texier when he published the second volume of his 'Description
de l'Asie mineure'.

In 1864-5, the German engineer Carl Humann visited Pergamon for the
first time. For the construction of the road from Pergamon to Dikili
for which he had undertaken planning work and topographical studies,
he returned in 1869 and began to focus intensively on the legacy of
the city. In 1871, he organised a small expedition there under the
leadership of Ernst Curtius. As a result of this short but intensive
investigation, two fragments of a great frieze were discovered and
transported to Berlin for detailed analysis, where they received some
interest, but not a lot. It is not clear who connected these fragments
with the Great Altar in Pergamon mentioned by Lucius Ampelius.
However, when the archaeologist Alexander Conze took over direction of
the department of ancient sculpture at the Royal Museums of Berlin, he
quickly initiated a programme for the excavation and protection of the
monuments connected to the sculpture, which were widely suspected to
include the Great Altar.

As a result of these efforts, Carl Humann, who had been carrying out
low-level excavations at Pergamon for the previous few years and had
discovered for example the architrave inscription of the Temple of
Demeter in 1875, was entrusted with carry out work in the area of the
altar of Zeus in 1878, where he continued to work until 1886. With the
approval of the Ottoman Empire, the reliefs discovered there were
transported to Berlin, where the Pergamon Museum was opened for them
in 1907. The work was continued by Conze, who aimed for the most
complete possible exposure and investigation of the historic city and
citadel that was possible. He was followed by the architectural
historian Wilhelm Dörpfeld from 1900 to 1911, who was responsible for
the most important discoveries. Under his leadership the Lower Agora,
the House of Attalos, the Gymnasion, and the Sanctuary of Demeter were
brought to light.

The excavations were interrupted by the First World War and were only
resumed in 1927 under the leadership of Theodor Wiegand, who remained
in this post until 1939. He concentrated on further excavation of the
upper city, the Asklepieion, and the Red Basilica. The Second World
War also caused a break in work at Pergamon, which lasted until 1957.
From 1957 to 1968, Erich Boehringer worked on the Asklepieion in
particular, but also carried out important work on the lower city as a
whole and performed survey work, which increased knowledge of the
countryside surrounding the city. In 1971, after a short pause,
Wolfgang Radt succeeded him as leader of excavations and directed the
focus of research on the residential buildings of Pergamon, but also
on technical issues, like the water management system of the city
which supported a population of 200,000 at its height. He also carried
out conservation projects which were of vital importance for
maintaining the material remains of Pergamon. Since 2006, the
excavations have been led by Felix Pirson.

Most of the finds from the Pergamon excavations before the First World
War were taken to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, with a smaller
portion going to the İstanbul Archaeological Museum after it was
opened in 1891. After the First World War the Bergama Museum was
opened, which has received all finds discovered since then.

In May 2022, archaeologists announced the discovery of a
1,800-year-old well-preserved geometric patterned floor mosaic around
the Red Basilica.

Pergamon Altar
================
The most famous structure from the city is the monumental altar,
sometimes called the Great Altar, which was probably dedicated to Zeus
and Athena. The foundations are still located in the Upper city, but
the remains of the Pergamon frieze, which originally decorated it, are
displayed in the Pergamon museum in Berlin, where the parts of the
frieze taken to Germany have been installed in a partial
reconstruction.

For the altar's construction, the required flat area was skillfully
created through terracing, in order to allow it to be oriented in
relation to the neighbouring Temple of Athena. The base of the altar
measured around 36 x 33 metres and was decorated on the outside with a
detailed depiction in high relief of the Gigantomachy, the battle
between the Olympian gods and the Giants. The frieze is 2.30 metres
high and has a total length of 113 metres, making it the second
longest frieze surviving from antiquity, after the Parthenon Frieze in
Athens. A 20 m staircase cut into the base on the western side leads
up to the upper structure, which is surrounded by a colonnade, and
consists of a colonnaded courtyard, separated from the staircase by a
colonnade. The interior walls of this colonnade had a further frieze,
depicting the life of Telephus, the son of Heracles and mythical
founder of Pergamon. This frieze is around 1.60 metres high and thus
is clearly smaller than the outer frieze.

In the New Testament Book of Revelation, the faith of the Pergamon
believers, who "dwell where Satan's throne is" is commended by the
author. Many scholars believe that the "seat of Satan" refers to the
Pergamon Altar, due to its resemblance to a gigantic throne.

Theatre
=========
The well-preserved dates from the Hellenistic period and had space
for around 10,000 people, in 78 rows of seats. At a height of 36
metres, it is the steepest of all ancient theatres. The seating area
('koilon') is divided horizontally by two walkways, called
'diazomata', and vertically by 0.75 m stairways into seven sections in
the lowest part of the theatre and six in the middle and upper
sections. Below the theatre is a 247 m and up to 17.4 m terrace, which
rested on a high retaining wall and was framed on the long side by a
stoa. Coming from the Upper market, one could enter this from a
tower-building at the south end. This terrace had no space for the
circular orchestra, which was normal in a Greek theatre, so only a
wooden stage building was built which could be taken down when there
was no performance taking place. Thus, the view along the terrace to
the Temple of Dionysos at the northern end was unimpeded. A marble
stage building was only built in the 1st century BC. Additional
theatres were built in the Roman period, one in the Roman new city and
the other in the sanctuary of Asclepius.

Temple of Trajan (Traianeum)
==============================
On the highest point of the citadel is the Temple of Trajan, the
Traianeum or Trajaneum. The Temple is also called the Temple of Zeus
Philios, as both Zeus and Trajan were worshiped in the Temple, the
former sharing it with the latter. The temple sits on a 2.9 m podium
on top of a vaulted terrace. The temple itself was a Corinthian
peripteros temple, about 18 metres wide with six columns on the short
sides and nine columns on the long sides, and two rows of columns in
antis. To the north, the area was closed off by a high stoa, while on
the west and east sides it was surrounded by simple ashlar walls,
until further stoas were inserted in Hadrian's reign.

During the excavations fragments of statues of Trajan and Hadrian were
found in the rubble of the cella, including their portrait heads, as
well as fragments of the cult statue of Zeus Philios.

Temple of Dionysus
====================
At Pergamon, Dionysus had the epithet 'Kathegemon', 'the guide', and
was already worshiped in the last third of the 3rd century BC, when
the Attalids made him the chief god of their dynasty. In the 2nd
century BC, Eumenes II (probably) built a temple for Dionysus at the
northern end of the theatre terrace. The marble temple sits on a
podium, 4.5 metres above the level of the theatre terrace and was an
Ionic prostyle temple. The pronaos was four columns wide and two
columns deep and was accessed by a staircase of twenty-five steps.
Only a few traces of the Hellenistic structure survive. The majority
of the surviving structure derives from a reconstruction of the temple
which probably took place under Caracalla, or perhaps under Hadrian.

Temple of Athena
==================
Pergamon's oldest temple is a sanctuary of Athena from the 4th century
BC. It was a north-facing Doric peripteros temple with six columns on
the short side and ten on the long side and a cella divided into two
rooms. The foundations, measuring around 12.70 x 21.80 metres, are
still visible today. The columns were around 5.25 metres high, 0.75
metres in diameter, and the distance between the columns was 1.62
metres, so the colonnade was very light for a temple of this period.
This is matched by the shape of the triglyphs, which usually consist
of a sequence of two triglyphs and two metopes, but are instead
composed of three of triglyphs and three metopes. The columns of the
temple are unfluted and retained bossage, but it is not clear whether
this was a result of carelessness or incompleteness.

A two-story stoa surrounding the temple on three sides was added under
Eumenes II, along with the propylon in the southeast corner, which is
now found, largely reconstructed, in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The balustrade of the upper level of the north and east stoas was
decorated with reliefs depicting weapons which commemorated Eumenes
II's military victory. The construction mixed Ionic columns and Doric
triglyphs (of which five triglyphs and metopes survive). In the area
of the sanctuary, Attalos I and Eumenes II constructed victory
monuments, most notably the Gallic dedications. The northern stoa
seems to have been the site of the Library of Pergamon.

Library
=========
The Library of Pergamon was the second largest in the ancient Greek
world after the Library of Alexandria, containing at least 200,000
scrolls. The location of the library building is not certain. Since
the 19th century excavations, it has generally been identified with an
annex of the northern stoa of the sanctuary of Athena in the Upper
Citadel, which was built by Eumenes II. Inscriptions in the gymnasium
which mention a library might indicate, however, that the building was
located in that area.

Other structures
==================
Other notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the
Acropolis include:
*The Royal palaces
*The Heroön - a shrine where the kings of Pergamon, particularly
Attalus I and Eumenes II, were worshipped.
*The Upper Agora
*The Roman baths complex
*Diodorus Pasporos heroon
*Arsenals

The site is today easily accessible by the Bergama Acropolis Gondola
from the base station in northeastern Bergama.

The lower part of the Acropolis also contains the following
structures:

*the House of Attalus
*the Lower Agora and
*the Gate of Eumenes

Gymnasium
===========
A large gymnasium area was built in the 2nd century BC on the south
side of the Acropolis. It consisted of three terraces, with the main
entrance at the southeast corner of the lowest terrace. The lowest and
southernmost terrace is small and almost free of buildings. It is
known as the Lower Gymnasium and has been identified as the boys'
gymnasium. The middle terrace was around 250 metres long and 70 metres
wide at the centre. On its north side there was a two-story hall. In
the east part of the terrace there was a small prostyle temple in the
Corinthian order. A roofed stadium, known as the Basement Stadium is
located between the middle terrace and the upper terrace.

The upper terrace measured 150 x 70 metres square, making it the
largest of the three terraces. It consisted of a courtyard surrounded
by stoas and other structures, measuring roughly 36 x 74 metres. This
complex is identified as a palaestra and had a theatre-shaped lecture
hall beyond the northern stoa, which is probably of Roman date and a
large banquet hall in the centre. Further rooms of uncertain function
were accessible from the stoas. In the west was a south-facing Ionic
antae temple, the central sanctuary of the gymnasium. The eastern area
was replaced with a bath complex in Roman times. Further Roman baths
were constructed to the west of the Ionic temple.

Sanctuary of Hera
===================
The sanctuary of Hera Basileia ('the Queen') lay north of the upper
terrace of the gymnasium. Its structure sits on two parallel terraces,
the south one about 107.4 metres above sea level and the north one
about 109.8 metres above sea level. The Temple of Hera sat in the
middle of the upper terrace, facing to the south, with a 6 m exedra to
the west and a building whose function is very unclear to the east.
The two terraces were linked by a staircase of eleven steps around 7.5
metres wide, descending from the front of the temple.

The temple was about 7 metres wide by 12 metres long, and sat on a
three-stepped foundation. It was a Doric tetrastyle prostyle temple,
with three triglyphs and metopes for each span in the entablature. All
the other buildings in the sanctuary were made out of trachyte, but
the visible part of the temple was made of marble, or at least had a
marble cladding. The base of the cult image inside the cella supported
three cult statues.

The surviving remains of the inscription on the architrave indicate
that the building was the temple of Hera Basileia and that it was
erected by Attalus II.

Sanctuary of Demeter
======================
The Sanctuary of Demeter occupied an area of 50 x 110 metres on the
middle level of the south slope of the citadel. The sanctuary was old;
its activity can be traced back to the fourth century BC.

The sanctuary was entered through a Propylon from the east, which led
to a courtyard surrounded by stoas on three sides. In the centre of
the western half of this courtyard, stood the Ionic temple of Demeter,
a straightforward Antae temple, measuring 6.45 x 12.7 metres, with a
porch in the Corinthian order which was added in the time of Antoninus
Pius. The rest of the structure was of Hellenistic date, built in
local marble and had a marble frieze decorated with bucrania. About
9.5 metres in front of the east-facing building, there was an altar,
which was 7 metres long and 2.3 metres wide. The temple and the altar
were built for Demeter by Philetaerus, his brother Eumenes, and their
mother Boa.

In the east part of the courtyard, there were more than ten rows of
seating laid out in front of the northern stoa for participants in the
mysteries of Demeter. Roughly 800 initiates could fit in these seats.

Sanctuary of Asclepius (Asclepieion)
======================================
south of the Acropolis (at 39° 7′ 9″ N, 27° 9′ 56″ E), down in the
valley, is the Sanctuary of Asclepius, the god of healing. The
Sanctuary of Asclepius, more commonly left untranslated Asclepieion
(from Greek), or sometimes Asclepium (from Latin), was approached
along an colonnaded sacred way. In this place people with health
problems could bathe in the water of the sacred spring, and in the
patients' dreams Asclepius would appear in a vision to tell them how
to cure their illness. Archeology has found many gifts and dedications
that people would make afterwards, such as small terracotta body
parts, no doubt representing what had been healed. Galen, the most
famous doctor in the ancient Roman Empire and personal physician of
Emperor Marcus Aurelius, worked in the Asclepieion for many years.

Notable extant structures in the Asclepieion include:
* the Roman theater
* the North Stoa
* the South Stoa
* the Temple of Asclepius
** in some sources, referred to as the Temple of Zeus Asclepius, or
the Temple of Zeus Asclepius Soter ("Soter" being an epithet meaning
"savior"), since there is evidence that , who constructed the temple,
dedicated it to this new syncretic god
* a circular treatment center (sometimes known as the Temple of
Telesphorus)
* a healing spring
* an underground passageway
* a library
* the Via Tecta (or the Sacred Way, which is a colonnaded street
leading to the sanctuary)
* a propylon

Serapis Temple
================
Pergamon's other notable structure is the great temple of the Egyptian
gods Isis and/or Serapis, known today as the Red Basilica (or 'Kızıl
Avlu' in Turkish), about 1 km south of the Acropolis at (39 7' 19" N,
27 11' 1" E). It consists of a main building and two round towers
within an enormous 'temenos' or sacred area. The temple towers
flanking the main building had courtyards with pools used for
ablutions at each end, flanked by stoas on three sides. The forecourt
of the Temple of Isis/Sarapis is still supported by the 193 m Pergamon
Bridge, the largest bridge substruction of antiquity.

According to Christian tradition, in the year 92 Saint Antipas, the
first bishop of Pergamum ordained by John the Apostle, was a victim of
an early clash between Serapis worshippers and Christians. An angry
mob is said to have burned Saint Antipas alive in front of the Temple
inside a brazen bull-like incense burner, which represented the bull
god Apis. His martyrdom is one of the first recorded in Christian
history, highlighted by the Christian Scripture itself through the
[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation+2%3A13&version=KJV
message] sent to the Pergamon Church in the Book of Revelation.

Infrastructure and housing
======================================================================
Pergamon is a good example of a city that expanded in a planned and
controlled manner.

Philetairos transformed Pergamon from an archaic settlement into a
fortified city. He or his successor Attalos I built a wall around the
whole upper city, including the plateau to the south, the upper agora
and some of the housing - further housing must have been found outside
these walls. Because of the growth of the city, the streets were
expanded and the city was monumentalised.
Under Attalos I some minor changes were made to the city of
Philetairos.
During the reign of Eumenes II and Attalos II, there was a substantial
expansion of the city. A new street network was created and a new city
wall, with a monumental gatehouse called the Gate of Eumenes, was
built south of the Acropolis. The wall, with numerous gates, now
surrounded the entire hill, not just the upper city and the flat area
to the southwest, all the way to the Selinus river. Numerous public
buildings were constructed, as well as a new marketplace south of the
acropolis and a new gymnasion in the east. The southeast slope and the
whole western slope of the hill were now settled and opened up by
streets.

The plan of Pergamon was affected by the extreme steepness of the
site. As a result of this, the streets had to turn hairpin corners, so
that the hill could be climbed as comfortably and quickly as possible.
For the construction of buildings and laying out of the agoras,
extensive work on the cliff-face and terracing had to be carried out.
A consequence of the city's growth was the construction of new
buildings over old ones, since there was not sufficient space.

Separate from this, a new area was laid out in Roman times, consisting
of a whole new city west of the Selinus river, with all necessary
infrastructure, including baths, theatres, stadiums, and sanctuaries.
This Roman new city was able to expand without any city walls
constraining it because of the absence of external threats.

Housing
=========
Generally, most of the Hellenistic houses at Pergamon were laid out
with a small, centrally-located and roughly square courtyard, with
rooms on one or two sides of it. The main rooms are often stacked in
two levels on the north side of the courtyard. A wide passage or
colonnade on the north side of the courtyard often opened onto foyers,
which enabled access to other rooms. An exact north-south arrangement
of the city blocks was not possible because of the topographical
situation and earlier construction. Thus the size and arrangement of
the rooms differed from house to house. From the time of Philetairos,
at the latest, this kind of courtyard house was common and it was ever
more widespread as time went on, but not universal. Some complexes
were designed as Prostas houses, similar to designs seen at Priene.
Others had wide columned halls in front of main rooms to the north.
Especially in this latter type there is often a second story accessed
by stairways. In the courtyards there were often cisterns, which
captured rain water from the sloping roofs above. For the construction
under Eumenes II, a city block of 35 x 45 m can be reconstructed,
subject to significant variation as a result of the terrain.

Open spaces
=============
From the beginning of the reign of Philetairos, civic events in
Pergamon were concentrated on the Acropolis. Over time the so-called
'Upper agora' was developed at the south end of this. In the reign of
Attalos I, a Temple of Zeus was built there. To the north of this
structure there was a multi-story building, which propbably had a
function connected to the marketplace. With progressive development of
the open space, these buildings were demolished, while the Upper Agora
itself took on a more strongly commercial function, while still a
special space as a result of the temple of Zeus. In the course of the
expansion of the city under Eumenes, the commercial character of the
Upper Agora was further developed. The key signs of this development
are primarily the halls built under Eumenes II, whose back chambers
were probably used for trade. In the west, the 'West Chamber' was
built which might have served as a market administration building.
After these renovations, the Upper Agora thus served as a centre for
trade and spectacle in the city.

Because of significant new construction in the immediate vicinity -
the renovation of the Sanctuary of Athena and the Pergamon altar and
the redesign of the neighbouring area - the design and organisational
principle of the Upper Agora underwent a further change. Its character
became much more spectacular and focussed on the two new structures
looming over it, especially the altar which was visible on its terrace
from below since the usual stoa surrounding it was omitted from the
design.

The 80 m long and 55 m wide 'Lower Agora' was built under Eumenes II
and was not significantly altered until Late Antiquity. As with the
Upper Agora, the rectangular form of the agora was adapted to the
steep terrain. The construction consisted in total of three levels. Of
these the Upper Level and the 'Main Level' opened onto a central
courtyard. On the lower level there were rooms only on the south and
east sides because of the slope of the land, which led through a
colonnade to the exterior of the space. The whole market area extended
over two levels with a large columned hall in the centre, which
contained small shop spaces and miscellaneous rooms.

Streets and bridges
=====================
The course of the main street, which winds up the hill to the
Acropolis with a series of hairpin turns, is typical of the street
system of Pergamon. On this street were shops and warehouses. The
surface of the street consisted of andesite blocks up to 5 metres
wide, 1 metre long and 30 cm deep. The street included a drainage
system, which carried the water down the slope. Since it was the most
important street of the city, the quality of the material used in its
construction was very high.

Philetairos' design of the city was shaped above all by circumstantial
considerations. Only under Eumenes II was this approach discarded and
the city plan begins to show signs of an overall plan. Contrary to
earlier attempts at an orthogonal street system, a fan-shaped design
seems to have been adopted for the area around the gymnasium, with
streets up to four metres wide, apparently intended to enable
effective traffic flow. In contrast to it, Philetairos' system of
alleys was created unsystematically, although the topic is still under
investigation. Where the lay of the land prevented the laying of a
street, small alleys were installed as connections instead. In
general, therefore, there are large, broad streets ('plateiai') and
small, narrow connecting streets ('stenopoi').

The nearly 200 metre wide Pergamon Bridge under the forecourt of the
Red Basilica in the centre of Bergama is the largest bridge
substruction from antiquity.

Water supply
==============
The inhabitants of Pergamon were supplied with water by an effective
system. In addition to cisterns, there was a system of nine pipes
(seven Hellenistic ceramic pipes and two open Roman channels. The
system provided around 30,000-35,000 cubic metres of water per day.

The Madradağ aqueduct was a ceramic pipe with a diameter of 18 cm
which already brought water to the citadel from a source over 40
kilometres away in the Madradağ mountains at 1174 m above sea level in
the Hellenistic period. Their significance for architectural history
lies in the form of the last kilometres from the mountains through a
200 m valley to the Akropolis. The pipe consisted of three channels,
which ended 3 km north of the citadel, before reaching the valley, and
emptied into a pool, which included a double sedimentation tank. This
pool was 35 metres higher than the summit of the citadel. The pipe
from the pool to the Acropolis consisted of only a single channel - a
lead pipe pressurised to 200 mH2O. The water was able to cross the
valley between the pool and the citadel with the help of this
pressurised conduit. It functioned as a communicating vessel, such
that the water rose to the height of the citadel on its own as a
result of the pressurised pipe.

Inscriptions
======================================================================
Greek inscriptions discovered at Pergamon include the rules of the
town clerks, the so-called Astynomoi inscription, which has added to
understanding of Greek municipal laws and regulations, including how
roads were kept in repair, regulations regarding the public and
private water supply and lavatories.

Notable people
======================================================================
*Epigonus (3rd century BC), Greek sculptor.
*Andronicus of Pergamum (2nd century BC), Attalid ambassador to Rome.
*Biton of Pergamon (2nd or 3rd century BC), Greek writer and engineer.
*Hegesinus of Pergamon (c. 160 BC), Academic philosopher.
*Sosus of Pergamon (2nd century BC), Greek mosaic artist.
*Apollodorus (1st century BC), rhetor and teacher to Augustus.
*Cratippus of Pergamon (1st century BC), Peripatetic philosopher.
*Antipas of Pergamum (1st century AD), Christian martyr and saint.
*Aristocles (1st century AD), a Greek sophist
*Aelius Nicon (2nd century AD), Greek architect and builder.
*Aeschrion of Pergamon (2nd century AD), physician and tutor to Galen.
*Galen (c. 129-200/216 AD), Greek physician.
*Oribasius (c. 320-403 AD), Greek physician
*Aedesius (4th century), Neoplatonic philosopher
*Sosipatra (4th century), Neoplatonic philosopher
*Telephus, a Greek grammarian

See also
======================================================================
*Allianoi
*List of ancient Greek cities

Bibliography
======================================================================
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* vol. 1 (1918), vol. 2 (1921), vol. 3 (1922).

''Altertümer von Pergamon''
=============================
The archaeological reports from Pergamon are published in German as
'Altertümer von Pergamon' (de Gruyter, Berlin).

*
* Volume I 2: Alexander Conze: 'Stadt und Landschaft' [City and
Landscape] (1913)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1913 Digitisation]
* Volume I 3: Alexander Conze (ed.): 'Stadt und Landschaft' [City and
Landscape] 3: Friedrich Graeber: 'Die Wasserleitungen' [The Aqueducts]
(1913) [http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1913a
Digitisation] [http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/conze1913
Digitisation of the tables for I, 1-3]
* Volume I 4: Günther Garbrecht: 'Die Wasserversorgung von Pergamon'
[The Water Supply System of Pergamon] (2001)
* Volume II: Richard Bohn: 'Das Heiligtum der Athena Polias
Nikephoros' [The Sanctuary of Athena Polias Nikephoros] (1885)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1885?sid=e32e0c9ca687e13f22cc9fbcdbe12820
Digitisation]
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1885a?sid=e32e0c9ca687e13f22cc9fbcdbe12820
Digitisation of the tables]
* Volume III 1: Jakob Schrammen: 'Der grosse Altar - der obere Markt'
[The Great Altar - The Upper Agora] (1906)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1906 Digitisation]
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1906a Digitisation of
the tables]
* Volume III 2: Hermann Winnefeld: 'Die Friese des groszen Altars'
[The Frieze of the Great Altar] (1910)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1910 Digitisation]
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1910a Digitisation of
the tables]
* Volume IV: Richard Bohn: 'Die Theater-Terrasse' [The Theatre
Terrace] (1896) [http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1896
Digitisation] [http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1896a
Digitisation of the tables]
* Volume V 1: Georg Kawerau - Theodor Wiegand: 'Die Paläste der
Hochburg' [The Palace of the Citadel] (1930)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1930 Digitisation]
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1930a Digitisation of
the tables]
* Volume V 2: Hermann Stiller: 'Das Traianeum' [The Trajaneum]. Berlin
1895 [http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1895a
Digitisation] [http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1895b
Digitisation of the tables]
* Volume VI: Paul Schazmann: 'Das Gymnasion. Der Tempelbezirk der Hera
Basileia' [The Gymnasium. The Temple Area of Hera Basileia] (1923)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1923a Digitisation]
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1923b Digitisation of
the tables]
* Volume VII 1: Franz Winter: 'Die Skulpturen mit Ausnahme der
Altarreliefs' [The Sculpture, aside from the Altar Reliefs] (1908)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1908 Digitisation]
* Volume VII 2: Franz Winter: 'Die Skulpturen mit Ausnahme der
Altarreliefs' [The Sculpture, aside from the Altar Reliefs] (1908)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1908b Digitisation]
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1908a Digitisation of
the tables]
* Volume VIII 1: Max Fränkel (ed.): 'Die Inschriften von Pergamon'
[The Inscriptions of Pergamon] (1890)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1890 Digitisation]
* Volume VIII 2: Max Fränkel (ed.): 'Die Inschriften von Pergamon '
[The Inscriptions of Pergamon] (1895)
[http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/pergamon1895 Digitisation]
* Volume VIII 3: Christian Habicht, Michael Wörrle: 'Die Inschriften
des Asklepieions' [The Inscriptions of the Asclepium] (1969)
* Volume IX: Erich Boehringer - Friedrich Krauss: 'Das Temenos für den
Herrscherkult' [The Temenos for the Ruler Cult] (1937)
* Volume X: Ákos von Szalay - Erich Boehringer et al.: 'Die
hellenistischen Arsenale. Garten der Königin' [The Hellenistic
Arsenal. Garden of the Queen] (1937)
* Volume XI 1: Oskar Ziegenaus, Gioia de Luca: 'Das Asklepieion. Der
südliche Temenosbezirk in hellenistischer und frührömischer Zeit' [The
Asclepium. The North Temple Area and Surrounding Complex in the
Hellenistic and Early Roman Periods] (1968)
* Volume XI 2: Oskar Ziegenaus, Gioia de Luca: 'Das Asklepieion. Der
nördliche Temenosbezirk und angrenzende Anlagen in hellenistischer und
frührömischer Zeit' [The Asclepium. The North Temple Area and
Surrounding Complex in the Hellenistic and Early Roman Periods] (1975)
* Volume XI 3: Oskar Ziegenaus: 'Das Asklepieion. Die Kultbauten aus
römischer Zeit an der Ostseite des Heiligen Bezirks' [The Asclepium.
The Cult Buildings of the Roman Period on the East Side of the Sacred
Area] (1981)
* Volume XI 4: Gioia de Luca: 'Das Asklepieion. Via Tecta und
Hallenstraße. Die Funde' [The Asclepium. Via Tecta and Stoas] (1984)
* Volume XI 5: Adolf Hoffmann, Gioia de Luca: 'Das Asklepieion. Die
Platzhallen und die zugehörigen Annexbauten in römischer Zeit' [The
Asclepium. The Halls and Associated Annexes in the Roman Period]
(2011)
* Volume XII: Klaus Nohlen, Wolfgang Radt: 'Kapıkaya. Ein
Felsheiligtum bei Pergamon' [Kapıkaya. A Cliff-Sanctuary near
Pergamon] (1978)
* Volume XIII: Carl Helmut Bohtz: 'Das Demeter-Heiligtum' [The
Sanctuary of Demeter] (1981)
* Volume XIV: Doris Pinkwart, Wolf Stammnitz, 'Peristylhäuser westlich
der Unteren Agora' [Peristyle Houses west of the Lower Agora] (1984)
* Volume XV 1: Meinrad N. Filges, Wolfgang Radt: 'Die Stadtgrabung.
Das Heroon' [The City Excavation. The Heroon] (1986)
* Volume XV 2: Klaus Rheidt: 'Die Stadtgrabung. Die byzantinische
Wohnstadt' [The City Excavation. The Byzantine Residential City]
(1991)
* Volume XV 3: Ulrike Wulf: 'Die Stadtgrabung. Die hellenistischen und
römischen Wohnhäuser von Pergamon. Unter Berücksichtigung der Anlagen
zwischen der Mittel- und der Ostgasse' [The City Excavation. The
Hellenistic and Roman Residential Housing of Pergamon. In Light of
Investigation of the Areas between Central and East Streets] (1999)
* Volume XV 4: Holger Schwarzer: 'Das Gebäude mit dem Podiensaal in
der Stadtgrabung von Pergamon. Studien zu sakralen Banketträumen mit
Liegepodien in der Antike' [The building with the Podium-hall in the
City Excavation of Pergamon. Studies of Sacral Banqueting Halls with
Raised Platforms in Antiquity] (2008)
* Volume XVI 1: Manfred Klinkott: 'Die byzantinischen
Befestigungsanlagen von Pergamon mit ihrer Wehr- und Baugeschichte'
[The Byzantine Fortifications of Pergamon with their Military and
Architectural History] (2001)

External links
======================================================================
*
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060813111253/http://www.usd.edu/~clehmann/pir/asiamysi.htm
Rosa Valderrama, "Pergamum"]: brief history
* [http://www.pbase.com/dosseman/bergama_turkey Photographic tour of
old and new Pergamon, including the museum]
* [http://www.whitman.edu/theatre/theatretour/pergamum/pergamum.htm
The Theatre at Pergamon. The Ancient Theatre Archive. Theatre
specifications and virtual reality tour of theatre]
* [http://www.pergamon.secondpage.de/index_en.html 3D-visualization
and photos of Pergamon]
*

License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pergamon