Philetaerus

Marble bust of Philetaerus. Roman copy from 1st century AD of the Greek original. Naples National Archaeological Museum.

Coin, depicting the head of Philetaerus on the obverse and seated Athena, Greek goddess of war and wisdom, on the reverse, struck during the reign of Eumenes I (263 BC–241 BC)

Philetaerus (/ˌfɪlᵻˈtɪərəs/; Ancient Greek: Φιλέταιρος, Philetairos, ca. 343 BC–263 BC) was the founder of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon in Anatolia.^[1]

Early life and career under Lysimachus

He was born in Tieium (Greek: Tieion),^[2] a small town which is situated in the geographical region of Pontus Euxinus on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia^[1] between Bithynia to the west and Paphlagonia to the east. His father Attalus (Greek: Attalos) was Greek^[1] (perhaps from Macedon) and his mother Boa was Paphlagonian.^[3]

After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Philetaerus became embroiled in the struggle for supremacy, called the Wars of the Diadochi (diadochi means "successors" in Greek) between Alexander's regional governors, Antigonus in Phrygia, Lysimachus in Thrace and Seleucus in Babylonia (among others). Philetaerus served first under Antigonus. He then shifted his allegiance to Lysimachus (ruler of Pergamon from 323 BC to 281 BC), who, after Antigonus was killed at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, made Philetaerus commander of Pergamon, where Lysimachus kept a treasury of nine thousand talents of silver.^[4]

Ruler of Pergamon

Philetaerus served Lysimachus until 282 BC, when perhaps because of conflicts involving the court intrigues of Arsinoë, Lysimachus' third wife, Philetaerus deserted Lysimachus, offering himself and the important fortress of Pergamon, along with its treasury to Seleucus,^[5] who subsequently defeated and killed Lysimachus^[6] at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. Seleucus himself was killed by Ptolemy Ceraunus, a brother of Arsinoë at Lysimachia a few months later.^[7]

Though nominally under Seleucid control, Philetaerus, especially after the death of Seleucus, had considerable autonomy and was able with the help of his considerable wealth to increase his power and influence beyond Pergamon. There are numerous records of Philetaerus as benefactor to neighboring cities and temples, including the temples at Delphi and Delos. He also contributed troops, money and food to the city of Cyzicus for defense against the invading Gauls. As a result, Philetaerus gained prestige and goodwill for himself and his family.^[8]

During his nearly forty year rule, he constructed on the acropolis of Pergamon, the temple of Demeter, and the temple of Athena (Pergamon's patron deity), and Pergamon's first palace and he added considerably to the city's fortifications.^[9]

Philetaerus was a eunuch, though scholars differ on the reason for his castration. Attalus I, the first Attalid king of Pergamon, explained that when Philetaerus was a baby, he was brought into a crowd where he was pressed upon and his testicles were crushed.

"Philetaerus of Tieium, was a eunuch from boyhood; for it came to pass at a certain burial, when a spectacle was being given at which many people were present, that the nurse who was carrying Philetaerus, still an infant, was caught in the crowd and pressed so hard that the child was incapacitated. He was a eunuch, therefore, but he was well trained and proved worthy of this trust."^[4]

Philetaerus never married and, since he was a eunuch, had no children.^[10] He adopted his nephew Eumenes I (the son of Philetaerus' brother also named Eumenes), who succeeded him as ruler of Pergamon, upon his death in 263 BC.^[11] With the exception of Eumenes II, all future Attalid rulers depicted the bust of Philetaerus on their coins, paying tribute to the founder of their dynasty.

Notes

1 2 3 Renée Dreyfus, Ellen Schraudolph (1996). Pergamon: The Telephos Frieze from the Great Altar. University of Texas Press. p. 24. ISBN 0-88401-091-0. Philetairos of Tios on the Black Sea, son of a Greek father and a Paphlagonian mother, a high-ranking officer in the army of King Lysimachos and also his confidant, was the actual founder of Pergamon.
↑ Strabo, 12.3.8.
↑ Hansen, p. 15.
1 2 Strabo, 13.4.1.
↑ Pausanias, 1.10.3, 4; Strabo, 13.4.1.
↑ Pausanias, 1.10.5.
↑ Junianus Justinus, 17.2; Strabo, 13.4.1.
↑ For a more detailed account of the benefactions of Philetaerus, including sources, see Hansen, pp. 18–19; see also Strabo, 13.4.1.
↑ Hansen, pp. 17, 18.
↑ Both Strabo, 13.4.1 and Pausanias, 1.8.1 state that he was a eunuch, according to Strabo, as the result of a childhood accident.
↑ Strabo, 13.4.2.

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. text
Junianus Justinus, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus, translated, with Footnotes, by the Rev. John Selby Watson; London: Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Convent Garden (1853).
Pausanias, Description of Greece, Books I-II, (Loeb Classical Library) translated by W. H. S. Jones; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. (1918) ISBN 0-674-99104-4.
Strabo, Geography, (Loeb Classical Library) translated by Horace Leonard Jones; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. (1924) Books 10-12, ISBN 0-674-99233-4; Books 13-14, ISBN 0-674-99246-6.

Regnal titles
New title	Ruler of Pergamon 282–263 BC	Succeeded by Eumenes I

Hellenistic rulers

Argeads	Philip II Alexander III the Great Philip III Arrhidaeus Alexander IV

Antigonids	Antigonus I Monophthalmus Demetrius I Poliorcetes Antigonus II Gonatas Demetrius II Aetolicus Antigonus III Doson Philip V Perseus Philip VI (pretender)

Ptolemies	Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy II Philadelphus Ptolemy III Euergetes Ptolemy IV Philopator Ptolemy V Epiphanes Cleopatra I Syra (regent) Ptolemy VI Philometor Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator Cleopatra II Philometor Soter Ptolemy VIII Physcon Cleopatra III Ptolemy IX Lathyros Ptolemy X Alexander Berenice III Ptolemy XI Alexander Ptolemy XII Auletes Cleopatra VI Tryphaena Berenice IV Epiphanea Ptolemy XIII Ptolemy XIV Cleopatra VII Philopator Ptolemy XV Caesarion

Seleucids	Seleucus I Nicator Antiochus I Soter Antiochus II Theos Seleucus II Callinicus Seleucus III Ceraunus Antiochus III the Great Seleucus IV Philopator Antiochus IV Epiphanes Antiochus V Eupator Demetrius I Soter Alexander I Balas Demetrius II Nicator Antiochus VI Dionysus Diodotus Tryphon Antiochus VII Sidetes Alexander II Zabinas Seleucus V Philometor Antiochus VIII Grypus Antiochus IX Cyzicenus Seleucus VI Epiphanes Antiochus X Eusebes Antiochus XI Epiphanes Demetrius III Eucaerus Philip I Philadelphus Antiochus XII Dionysus Antiochus XIII Asiaticus Philip II Philoromaeus

Lysimachids	Lysimachus

Antipatrids	Cassander Philip IV Alexander V Antipater II Antipater Etesias Sosthenes

Attalids	Philetaerus Eumenes I Attalus I Eumenes II Attalus II Attalus III Eumenes III

Greco-Bactrians	Diodotus I Diodotus II Euthydemus I Demetrius I Euthydemus II Antimachus I Pantaleon Agathocles Demetrius II Eucratides I Plato Eucratides II Heliocles I

Indo-Greeks	Demetrius I Antimachus I Pantaleon Agathocles Apollodotus I Demetrius II Antimachus II Menander I Zoilos I Agathokleia Lysias Strato I Antialcidas Heliokles II Polyxenos Demetrius III Philoxenus Diomedes Amyntas Epander Theophilos Peukolaos Thraso Nicias Menander II Artemidoros Hermaeus Archebius Telephos Apollodotus II Hippostratos Dionysios Zoilos II Apollophanes Strato II Strato III

Kings of Bithynia	Boteiras Bas Zipoetes I Nicomedes I Zipoetes II Etazeta (regent) Ziaelas Prusias I Prusias II Nicomedes II Nicomedes III Nicomedes IV Socrates Chrestus

Kings of Pontus	Mithridates I Ctistes Ariobarzanes Mithridates II Mithridates III Pharnaces I Mithridates IV Philopator Philadephos Mithridates V Euergetes Mithridates VI Eupator Pharnaces II Darius Arsaces Polemon I Pythodorida Polemon II

Kings of Commagene	Ptolemaeus Sames II Mithridates I Antiochus I Mithridates II Antiochus II Mithridates III Antiochus III Antiochus IV

Kings of Cappadocia	Ariarathes I Ariarathes II Ariamnes II Ariarathes III Ariarathes IV Ariarathes V Orophernes Ariarathes VI Ariarathes VII Ariarathes VIII Ariarathes IX Ariobarzanes I Ariobarzanes II Ariobarzanes III Ariarathes X Archelaus

Kings of the Cimmerian Bosporus	Mithridates I Pharnaces Asander with Dynamis Mithridates II Asander with Dynamis Scribonius’ attempted rule with Dynamis Dynamis with Polemon Polemon with Pythodorida Aspurgus Mithridates III with Gepaepyris Mithridates III Cotys I

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 54949446 GND: 119046482

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