Pergame

Pergame (in Greek Πέργαμον / Pérgamon , literally “citadel”, in Latin Pergamum ) is an old town of Asia Mineure, in Mysie located at the north of Smyrna, the confluence of the Caïque and Cétios, to approximately 25 km of the Aegean Sea. At present, its name is Bergama (Turkey, Province of Izmir).

History

The settlement of Pergame is attested as of. Although the tradition says it founded by Greeks of Arcadie it is not very probable that it was a Greek colony , considering its distance of the sea. The king of Persia gives it to the Spartan Démarate towards 480 av. J. - C. Another mention attested of the city goes up with 339 date on which it is controlled by a Greek Tyran.

It is after the death of Alexandre Large the, in 323, that Pergame emerges from anonymity. The Diadoque Lysimaque one of its generals stored there its treasures under the guard of eunuque the Philétairos. This one seizes Pergame and founds in 282 the Pergamien state. It reigns initially under the supervision of the Séleucides. Benefitting from the fight between the latter, its nephew and wire adoptive Eumène I {{er}}, true founder of the dynasty of the Attalides, overcomes Antiochos I {{er}} in 262 and thus ensures the independence of Pergame, which is consolidated by Attale I {{er}} Sôter, first of the dynasty to take the title of king. He is combined with the Romains during the First war Macedonian, against Philippe V of Macedonia. After the Roman victory of Magnesia of Sipyle in 189, by the Peace of Apamée, Pergame receives Rome most of the Asia Mineure. By the victory of Attale I {{er}} Sôter against the Gallates (of the Celtic of Anatolia central), Pergame extends its territory of the Hellespont to the Carie and the Ionie, to the Cappadoce and the Western part of the Phrygie. It is then a continental kingdom, with only one important port, Attalia because the Greek ports of the Aegean Sea keep their independence.

The apogee of Pergame is reached under Eumène II († 159), king starting from 197. The city has a prosperous agriculture and an industry: industry manufactures fabrics, ceramics and especially, parchments (of the Greek περγαμηνή / pergamênế , i.e. which wants to say “skin of Pergame”, translated into French by “pergaménien” but the impossibility of French to pronounce it correctly transformed the word into “Parchemin”), whose industry developed after the prohibition of Ptolémée V, jealous of the library of Pergame, to export Egyptian papyruses towards Pergame. Large builder, Eumène II increases the city, consolidates the fortifications, builds the Grand Furnace bridge (currently with the Staatliche Museen of Berlin) and the temple of Athéna, many Gymnase S, and a large library. He acquires sculptures and protects Delphes. At that time, Pergame, is at the same time the allied one of Rome, and a promoter of the Hellénisme in Asia Mineure to counterbalance this alliance which is worth enmities on behalf of the Greek cities to them. It becomes one of the great centers of the hellenistic culture with Athens and Alexandria. It attracts many sculptor S and Philosophe S.

The last sovereign attalide, Attale III (139 - 133), without heir, chooses by will the Roman Empire like executor, in 133, leaving him the choice find the best successor. The Roman Senate prefers to preserve the administration of the rich person kingdom, of which it makes the province of Asia. Under Roman government, the prosperity and the expansion of Pergame continue. At the 2nd century, she knows even a second apogee, with the construction of temples (temple of the Egyptian gods, the Kizil Avlu ). The sanctuary of Asclépios becomes a medical center of a great fame. It is the fatherland of the eminent doctor Galien.

At the end of 2nd century a. J. - C., Pergame converts. The temple of Sérapis, in the sanctuary of the Egyptian gods, is transformed into Christian church (see Apocalypse , 2,12). The city knows then the decline of the Roman Empire.

In 716 a. J. - C., it are conquered by the Arab , then are taken again by the Byzantine S and pass under Othoman domination to the 14th century. This provincial city always exists, under the name of Bergama.

The city with its apogee with

Pergame, built on a height (335  m), is the superposition of three cities, joined together the ones with the others by staircases, with view-points, terraces supporting of the gantries on two floors. In the high city the administrative buildings are (Agora, palate, arsenal, library, theater, temples of Dionysos, of Athéna Polias , furnace bridge of Zeus). In the medium-sized city a splendid gymnasium, the temples of Déméter and Héra Basileia , the Academy. The low city constitutes the shopping mall.

Admirable architectural success, the city is in the center of a rich person soil (corn, olive-trees, vines, breeding). Industry is differentiated (fine perfumes, cloths, parchments). Its library competes with that of Alexandria (400 000 volumes), the royal palace contains a true museum of sculpture. It is famous for its school of rhéteurs, its workshops of sculptors, and its dionysiaques artists make of it the principal hearth of the dramatic art.

The library of Pergame with

The library of Pergame clashes with the famous library of Alexandria in Egypt, disputing with it the best manuscripts and the best specialists, in two divergent visions:
  • In Alexandria was practiced the study of the lexicon, of the texts towards by worms, word by mot. the establishment of conclusions was done by confrontations of texts approached in a scrupulous way.
  • In Pergame on the contrary, one sought the deep sense of the texts - even hidden - considering thus that what was written and what was truly meant did not correspond systematically.

List kings de Pergame

See too

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