Eumenes I of Pergamon

“ The last years of his reign were disturbed by renewed hostilities against Prusias of Bithynia and the Celts of Galatia, and probably only his death prevented a war with Rome. Eumenes, although physically weak, was a shrewd and vigorous ruler and politician, who raised his little state from insignificance to a powerful monarchy. During his reign Pergamum became a flourishing city, where men of learning were always welcome, among them Crates of Mallus, the founder of the Pergamene school of criticism. ”

“ The lesson was learnt by the Pergamene power, and fortunately the dynasty was too short-lived for a king to arise who should forget the crushing display of Roman power which had followed the Third Macedonian War, or for the realisation of that greater danger of a protectorate—a struggle for the throne which should lead one of the pretenders to appeal to a national sentiment and embark on a national war. Eumenes at his death had left a direct successor in the person of his son Attalus, who had been born to him by his wife Stratonice, the daughter of Ariarathes King of Cappadocia. ”

“ Eumenes is a much greater oppressor of Asia than Antiochus ever was, your allies can have no rest as long as the kingdom of Pergamum exists, it stands like a citadel to command all the States round it. ”

“ Owing to the troubles incident to the Gallic invasion of Greece and Asia Minor, he is not disturbed.
263 His nephew, Eumenes I, succeeds. His power increases, and he defeats the Seleucidæ in a battle.
241 Attalus I succeeds. He achieves a decisive victory over the Gauls, and makes friends with Rome. Pergamus becomes a great art centre.
197 Eumenes II succeeds. Height of splendour of the kingdom, which now covers the greater part of western Asia Minor. Eumenes becomes the ally of Rome in her wars against the Persians and Syrians. ”

“ Eumenes II., king of Pergamus, who, like his father Attalus I., feared the encroachments of Macedonia, denounced at Rome this infraction of the old treaties. The fear with which a powerful prince inspired him, and the gratitude which he owed to the Republic for the aggrandisement of his kingdom after the Asian war, obliged him to cultivate the friendship of the Roman people. In 582 he came to Rome, and, honourably received by the Senate, forgot nothing which might excite it against Perseus, whom he accused of ambitious designs hostile to the Republic. ”

“ The Pergamus library which was deposited by Cleopatra, B. C. 32, in the city of Alexandria, is said to have been composed almost wholly of parchment written volumes. The reason or cause of such employment, of parchment in preference to papyrus is attributed to jealousies existing between Eumenes, King of Pergamus, and Ptolemy Philadelphus, the ruler of Egypt, contemporaries of each other. ”

“ But when Craterus and Antipater, having subdued the Greeks, advanced into Asia, with intentions to quell the power of Perdiccas, and were reported to design an invasion of Cappadocia, Perdiccas, resolving himself to march against Ptolemy, made Eumenes commander-in-chief of all the forces of Armenia and Cappadocia, and to that purpose wrote letters, requiring Alcetas and Neoptolemus to be obedient to Eumenes, and giving full commission to Eumenes to dispose and order all things as he thought fit. ”

“ Moreover, Hermon surely knew that if he came to him as a blind man he would find a brother; if he came restored to sight, he would also find a brother, and likewise a fellow-artist with whom he could live and work.
Myrtilus had told the heir to the throne of Pergamus of his richly gifted blind relative, and of the peculiarity of his art, and Eumenes eagerly endeavoured to induce his beloved guest to persuade his friend to remove to his capital, where there was no lack of distinguished leeches. ”

“ In the division of the empire on Alexander’s death, Cappadocia and Paphlagonia were assigned to Eumenes; but as they were not yet subdued, Leonnatus and Antigonus were charged by Perdiccas to put him in possession. Antigonus, however, disregarded the order, and Leonnatus in vain attempted to induce Eumenes to accompany him to Europe and share in his far-reaching designs. Eumenes joined Perdiccas, who installed him in Cappadocia. When Craterus and Antipater, having reduced Greece, determined to pass into Asia and overthrow the power of Perdiccas, their first blow was aimed at Cappadocia. ”

“ He did not long miss the gay varied life of Alexandria, because he found a rich compensation for it, and because Pergamus, too, was a rapidly growing city, whose artistic decoration was inferior to no other in Greece.
Of the numerous works which Hermon completed in the service of the first three art-loving rulers of the new Pergamenian kingdom, Philetaerus, Eumenes, and Attalus, nothing was preserved except the head of a Gaul. This noble masterpiece proves how faithful Hermon remained to truth, which he had early chosen for the guiding star of his art. ”

“ He had founded a splendid library, which he determined should eclipse that of Alexandria. In the reign of Ptolemy Epiph’anes, king of Egypt, it was sought to prevent the transcription of books for the rival library by prohibiting the exportation of papyrus. This obliged Eumenes to resort to parchment as a substitute. From Pergamus it spread to Europe, finally superseding all [Pg 25] other materials, and continuing in demand until the art of making paper cheaply from rags was invented toward the close of the Middle Ages. ”

“ In the meanwhile, Attalus Philometor of Pergamus, the son of Eumenes, died, and with him the race of Philetærus became extinct. The first kings of Pergamus whom the Romans had raised to greatness, were on the whole clever men and mild princes ”

“ That the most able and upright men throughout Greece should be opposed to Rome was to be expected; the venal aristocracy alone was favourable to the Romans, and here and there an isolated man of worth, who, unlike the great majority, was under no delusion as to the circumstances and the future of the nation. This was most painfully felt by Eumenes of Pergamus, the main upholder of that extraneous freedom among the Greeks. ”

“ He was guilty of every license, even the greatest cruelties, without being bloodthirsty like Antipater, who was another Duke of Alva. Perdiccas was a purely oriental and unprincipled character; a man of very moderate talents, to whom nothing was sacred.
He had no friends; Eumenes of Cardia alone was in connection with him, and drew close to him. As Craterus was the most chivalrous and gallant among the Macedonians, so Eumenes was the cleverest, and very much distinguished by his great talents: he would have been a distinguished man at any time. ”

“ The word Parchment is a corruption of the Latin Pergamena, from Pergamus, which some allege to have been the place of its invention. But it is very probable that in the time of Eumenes, who was king of Pergamus, (about 200 years before Christ,) the circumstance of increased consumption merely occasioned the discovery of a better method of dressing the skins; from which fact alone, and perhaps with sufficient reason, the origin of the present term was derived. ”

“ I. The son of Ariamnes I., was distinguished for his love of his brother Holophernes, whom he sent to assist Ochus in the recovery of Egypt, b. c. 350. After the death of Alexander, Perdiccas appointed Eumenes governor of Cappadocia; but upon Ariarathes refusing to submit to Eumenes, Perdiccas made war upon him. ”

“ At this time, Publius Sulpicius and Publius Villius, the Roman ambassadors, who were sent to Antiochus, as above mentioned, having received orders to wait on Eumenes, first came to Elaea, and thence went up to Pergamus, for the palace of Eumenes was there. Eumenes was very desirous of a war against Antiochus, for he thought that, if peace continued, a king so much superior in power would be a troublesome neighbour; but that, in case of hostilities, he would prove no more a match for the Romans than Philip had been ”

“ Perseus’ sister was married to Prusias. He also went on with the negociations with the Bastarnians, and even entered into new ones with the Illyrians. But Eumenes became suspicious of these connexions of Perseus with Rhodes, Antiochus, and Prusias; for he saw fast enough, that he could not but fall a victim, if Perseus should be successful against the Romans: Perseus held out as a bait to the other powers the kingdom of Pergamus, which would be the natural prey for them to share. Eumenes therefore complained to the Romans ”

“ For who could fail to remark the folly of both the kings? How could Eumenes on the one hand expect to be trusted by a man with whom he was on such bad terms; and to get so large a sum of money, when he was able to give Perseus absolutely no security for recovering it, in case of his not carrying out his promises? And how could he expect not to be detected by the Romans in taking so large a sum? If he had concealed it at the time he certainly would not have done so long. Moreover, he would have been bound at any rate, in return for it, to have adopted the quarrel with Rome ”

“ Those parts of Asia Minor which had belonged to Antiochus in full sovereignty were to belong to Eumenes of Pergamus, except Lycia and Caria south of the Maeander, which were to belong to Rhodes. (2) Of Greek cities such as had formerly paid tribute to the king of Pergamus and had been wrested from him were to pay their tribute as before; those that had been originally independent but had been subjected by Antiochus were to recover their independence, and such as had been independent of either king throughout were to continue independent. ”

“ She came into Macedonia to take the management of affairs; and although her imposing title—of mother to the great conqueror—raised a strong favourable feeling, yet her multiplied executions of the Antipatrian partisans excited fatal enmity against a dynasty already tottering. Nevertheless Eumenes, though his advice had been disregarded, devoted himself in Asia with unshaken fidelity to the Alexandrine family, resisting the most tempting invitations to take part with Antigonus against them. His example contributed much to keep alive the same active sentiment in those around him ”

“ For, among us, in actual fact, scribes are considered mere hirelings, but among them on the contrary no one is admitted to this office if they are not of honourable rank, with recognised faithfulness and industry, because he must participate in every council. Eumenes held this position of friendship under Philip for seven years. [2] After he died, Eumenes remained at the same rank under Alexander for thirteen years. ”

“ The dramatic vigour and intensity which we find in the art of Pergamon cannot easily be traced to the influence of any similar development in literature, though its artificial and learned mythology is such as we find also in the work of Hellenistic poets. ”

“ Perdiccas linked him to himself with great effort, because he saw the great faithfulness and industry in the man, not doubting that, if he seduced him, he would be very useful in the things which he was planning. For he planned, as nearly everyone in great power desires, to snatch and seize everyone's portions. In fact, he was not alone in this, but all the others who had been friends of Alexander [had the same plan] . First, Leonnatus planned to take Macedonia befoure anyone else. With many great promises he tried to persuade Eumenes to desert Perdiccas and make an alliance with him. ”

“ His claims were made good in 322 by the regent Perdiccas, who crucified Ariarathes; but in the dissensions following Eumenes’s death, the son of Ariarathes recovered his inheritance and left it to a line of successors, who mostly bore the name of the founder of the dynasty, Under the fourth of the name Cappadocia came into relations with Rome, first as a foe espousing the cause of Antiochus the Great, then as an ally against Perseus of Macedon. The kings henceforward threw in their lot with the Republic as against the Seleucids, to whom they had been from time to time tributary. ”

“ Antigonus, already filled with hopes of his own, and despising all men, took no notice of Perdiccas's letters; but Leonnatus with his army came down into Phrygia to the service of Eumenes. But being visited by Hecataeus, the tyrant of the Cardians, and requested rather to relieve Antipater and the Macedonians that were besieged in Lamia, he resolved upon that expedition, inviting Eumenes to a share in it, and endeavoring to reconcile him to Hecataeus. ”

“ Eumenes had intended to fight a battle on the plains of Lydia near Sardis, because his chief strength lay in his cavalry, and also to let Kleopatra [172] see how powerful he was; but at her particular request, for she was afraid to give umbrage to Antipater, he marched into Upper Phrygia, and passed the winter in the city of Kelainæ. While here, Alketas, Polemon, and Dokimus caballed against him, claiming the supreme command for themselves. Hereupon Eumenes quoted the proverb, "No one reflects that he who rules must die." ”

“ But Eumenes, whether fearing Antipater, or looking upon Leonnatus as a rash, headstrong, and unsafe man, stole away from him by night, taking with him all his men, namely, three hundred horse, and two hundred of his own servants armed, and all his gold, to the value of five thousand talents of silver, and fled to Perdiccas, discovered to him Leonnatus's design, and thus gained great interest with him, and was made of the council. ”

“ But when Charops returned home he entirely suppressed this reply; and having written one to suit his own ideas, gave out that the Romans approved of what had been done by him....
22. King Eumenes was entirely broken in bodily strength, but still maintained his brilliancy of mind.Death and character of Eumenes, B.C. 159. He was a man who in most things was the equal of any king of his time; and in those which were the most important and honourable, was greater and more illustrious than them all.He raised his kingdom to the first rank ”