The
Attalid dynasty was a
Hellenistic dynasty that ruled the city of
Pergamon after the death of
Lysimachus, a general of
Alexander the Great. The Attalid kingdom was the
rump state left after the collapse of the
Lysimachian Empire. One of Lysimachus' officers,
Philetaerus, took control of the city in
282 BC. The later Attalids were descended from his father, and they expanded the city into a kingdom.
Attalus I proclaimed himself King in the
230s BC, following his victories over the
Galatians. The Attalids ruled Pergamon until
Attalus III bequeathed the kingdom to the
Roman Republic in
133 BC to avoid a likely succession crisis.
On the interior of the Pergamon Altar is a frieze depicting the life of Telephos, son of Herakles, whom the ruling Attalid dynasty associated with their city and utilized to claim descendance from the Olympians. Pergamon, having entered the Greek world much later than their counterparts to the west, could not boast the same divine heritage as older city-states, and had to retroactively cultivate their place in Greek mythos.
