Hi there, you're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast.

Episode 86, the Adelaucids, and the Ptolemies.

By the end of the third century, a new player

emerged on the scene to shake up the established balance of power. I am, of course, referring to

the Adelid dynasty, who ruled from the city of Pergamon and northwestern Asia Minor from 281

until 133 BC. Perhaps they aren't as famous as their rivals, but the Adelids were central

figures in the affairs of the Third and Second Centuries, chiefly through their involvement

with the Roman Republic. They were Hellenistic monarchs par excellence, with evidence of their patronage

and kingly activities well documented in the archaeological record, and

Pergamon became one of the most important cities in the cultural fabric of the ancient world.

In this episode, let us discuss the history of the Pergamine kingdom down to the Roman

intervention in Greece, but we can also look at the activities of the Adelaide kings to see

how they managed to assert their authority and identity in the face of fierce competition.

I also strongly encourage you to look through the episode transcript, which contains a large number of supplementary materials.

Many of the photos I've included were taken during my travels in Greece and Italy, and I've been recently trying to beef up the transcripts to better

aid in your understanding. Please do check those out, but for now let us continue.

Pergamon's history dates back to the very beginning of the Hellenistic period. Situated adjacent

to the modern city of Bergama in western Turkey, approximately 70 kilometers north of Ismir, known in antiquity

as the region of Mysia, it was host to a settlement that existed prior to the Macedonian

conquest. Control of the city fell to the successors of Alexander following his death, and was

initially overseen by Antigonus Monophthalmus, before was betrayed to to Antigonus's commander, Docchimus to Lycemicus,

prior to the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, who turned Pergamon into his personal treasury.

...