The "the Dying Gaul" or "Capitoline Gaul" ("Galata Capitolino"), a marble statue of a dying
Gaulish warrior. Thought to be a copy of one of the bronze statues commissioned by
Attalus I to commemorate his victories over the Galatians around 238-227 BC. [16]
The monument was set up around 226-220 BC on the Pergamon Acropolis and
dedicated to Athena (see gallery 2, pages 20-22). The "Ludovisi Gaul" (see below)
may also have been part of the monument.

Found about 1622 in the area of the Villa Ludovisi, on the Quirinal Hill, Rome, the location of the
ancient Horti Sallustiani (Gardens of Sallust), previously the Horti Cesari (Gardens of Caesar).
It has been suggested that the "Capitoline Gaul" and the "Ludovisi Gaul" may have been
commissioned by Julius Caesar as symbolic copies following his victories in Gaul. Moved from
the Villa Ludovisi to the Capitoline during the papacy of Clement XII (1730-1740). Height 93 cm.

The "Ludovisi Gaul", a marble statue group of a Gaul, perhaps a chieftain,
killing himself and his wife rather than surrender to their enemies.

Found around the same time as the "Capitoline Gaul", probably in the
area of the Villa Ludovisi, on the Quirinal Hill, Rome. Docimenum marble.
Carrara marble used for restorations. Height 211 cm.

A marble statue of a seated lion with a bovine head between its forepaws.

Hellenistic period. From Pergamon; found in Hamzali village, Bergama.

Detail of a limestone slab inscribed with the Astynomoi Law of Pergamon.
From the Lower Agora of the Pergamon Acropolis. Roman period. [20]

A fragment of a Byzantine mosaic from Pergamon
with a depiction of a dolphin. 5th - 6th century AD.

"The acropolis of Pergamus", 1882, by English architect and landscape artist Thomas Allom [21].

1. Pliny on Pergamon

"... longeque clarissimum Asiae Pergamum"

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 5, chapter 33. At Perseus Digital Library.

3. Teuthrania in Homer's Odyssey

4. Pausanias (Παυσανίας), 2nd century AD Greek travel writer, thought to be from Lydia in Asia Minor. His only known book is Description of Greece (Ἑλλάδος περιήγησις). Although Book 1 (of 10) is a guide to Athens and Attica, but also contains information about other places, including summaries of phases of Pergamon's history.

5. Herodotus (Ἡρόδοτος, circa 484-425 BC), "the Father of History", Greek historian born in Halicarnassus, Caria (today Bodrum, Turkey).

Herodotus, The Histories, Volume I, Book I, 149. English translation by George Campbell Macaulay (1852-1915). Published in two volumes by MacMillan and Co., London and New York, 1890. At Project Gutenberg.

All nine books of The Histories are online in English and Greek at Project Gutenberg and Perseus Digital Library. The excellent Perseus version (English translation by A. D. Godley. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1920), annotated and with cross-reference links, presents a short section of a book on each web page, whereas the simpler Gutenberg layout (also with notes) displays an entire book on a single page.

Marble statuette of a female
dancer from Pergamon.

Hellenistic period, 150-30 BC.

6. Xenophon of Athens (Ξενοφῶν, circa 430-354 BC), general, historian and philosopher; pupil of Socrates.

7. Bust of Xenophon in Bergama Archaeological Museum

Inv. No. VTS 65/615; Museum Inv. No. 784.
Height 49.5 cm.

The bust was found in 1965 along the colonnaded street leading to the Asklepieion. The right side of the head is badly damaged, but has been identified as a portrait of Xenophon by comparison with other similar busts made about the same time ("late Antonine period") and thought to be modelled on an original of the late 4th century BC:

A portrait herm bust of Xenophon in the Graeco-Roman Museum, Alexandria, Egypt, inscribed with the name Xenophon in Greek on the front of the herm;

A marble herm bust in the Prado, Madrid. Inv. No. 100-E.

8. Lysimachus, "King of Thrace"

Lysimachus (Λυσίμαχος, Lysimachos, circa 360-281 BC) was born in Pella, the capital of Macedonia, and was the son of Agathocles, a Thessalian noble and favourite of Alexander the Great's father Philip II. He only ruled over the Hellenized coastal areas of Thrace; much of the interior was still controlled by Thracian tribes. Seuthes III (Greek, Σεύθης, ruled circa 331-300 BC), king of the Odrysians of eastern Thrace, proved a challenge for Lysimachus. They engaged in at least two battles, the results of which were inconclusive, and it is thought that they made a peace treaty.

9. Lysimachus' treasure in Pergamon

Strabo (Στράβων, 64/63 BC - circa AD 24 AD), Greek historian, geographer and philosopher from Amaseia in Pontus (today Amasya, Turkey).

The Geography of Strabo, Book 13, Chapter 4, Section 1. Edited by H. L. Jones. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; William Heinemann Ltd, London, 1924. At Perseus Digital Library.

"It is pertinent to add here an account of Attalus, because he too is one of the Athenian eponymoi. A Macedonian of the name of Docimus, a general of Antigonus, who afterwards surrendered both himself and his property to Lysimachus, had a Paphlagonian eunuch called Philetaerus. All that Philetaerus did to further the revolt from Lysimachus, and how he won over Seleucus, will form an episode in my account of Lysimachus. Attalus, however, son of Attalus and nephew of Philetaerus, received the kingdom from his cousin Eumenes, who handed it over. The greatest of his achievements was his forcing the Gauls to retire from the sea into the country which they still hold."

"And at the same time Philetaerus, to whom the property of Lysimachus had been entrusted, aggrieved at the death of Agathocles and suspicious of the treatment he would receive at the hands of Arsinoe, seized Pergamus on the Caicus, and sending a herald offered both the property and himself to Seleucus.

Lysimachus hearing of all these things lost no time in crossing into Asia [281 BC], and assuming the initiative met Seleucus, suffered a severe defeat and was killed. Alexander, his son by the Odrysian woman, after interceding long with Lysandra, won his body and afterwards carried it to the Chersonesus and buried it, where his grave is still to be seen between the village of Cardia and Pactye."

10. Names of the rulers of Pergamon

Scholars appear neither certain nor united about the etymology, meaning or significance of many ancient Greek names. Here are some of translations and interpretations of the names of Hellenistic rulers offered by various sources.

Alexander (Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros), from alexein, to defend, and andros, man; hence defender of mankind.

Lysimachus (Λυσίμαχος), from λυσις (lysis) a release, loosening, and μαχη (mache) battle. The name has been variously interpreted as describing one who makes war, literally "looses battle" (perhaps as in "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war" in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar); "free battle"; "freedom fighter"; and even one who ends war by a "release from battle".

Seleucus (Σέλευκος, Seleukos), possibly from λευκος (leukos), bright, white; hence brilliant, shining.

Philetaerus (Φιλέταιρος), fond of one's comrades or the good comrade.

Eumenes (Ευμένης), favourable, benign, genial, propitious.

Attalos (Ἄτταλος), increased, nourished.

11. Ptolemy Keraunos

Ptolemy Keraunos (Πτολεμαῖος Κεραυνός, Ptolemy Thunderbolt; died 279 BC), the eldest son of Ptolemy I of Egypt. When his younger half-brother Ptolemy (later Ptolemy II) was named heir to the throne in 282 BC he left Egypt and went to live at the court of Lysimachus. His half-sister Arsinoe (later Arsinoe II of Egypt) had married Lysimachus, and another sister Lysandra was the wife of Lysimachus' son Agathocles.

12. The Gauls in Anatolia

There are few accounts of the Celts in Greece and Asia, but Pausanias provided a short summary of the conflicts between the Gauls (Galatians) and Pergamens.

"The greater number of the Gauls crossed over to Asia by ship and plundered its coasts. Some time after, the inhabitants of Pergamus, that was called of old Teuthrania, drove the Gauls into it from the sea. Now this people occupied the country on the farther side of the river Sangarius capturing Ancyra [Ἄγκυρα, today Ankara, Turkey], a city of the Phrygians, which Midas son of Gordius had founded in former time. And the anchor, which Midas found, was even as late as my time in the sanctuary of Zeus, as well as a spring called the Spring of Midas, water from which they say Midas mixed with wine to capture Silenus. Well then, the Pergameni took Ancyra and Pessinus which lies under Mount Agdistis, where they say that Attis lies buried.

They [the Pergamenes] have spoils from the Gauls, and a painting which portrays their deed against them. The land they dwell in was, they say, in ancient times sacred to the Cabeiri, and they claim that they are themselves Arcadians, being of those who crossed into Asia with Telephus. Of the wars that they have waged no account has been published to the world, except that they have accomplished three most notable achievements; the subjection of the coast region of Asia, the expulsion of the Gauls therefrom, and the exploit of Telephus against the followers of Agamemnon, at a time when the Greeks after missing Troy, were plundering the Meian plain thinking it Trojan territory. Now I will return from my digression."

13. Attalus I and Aegina

Aegina was captured by the Roman fleet commanded by Proconsul Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus in 210 BC, during the First Macedonian War (214-205 BC). The fleet of Attalus I may have been involved in taking the island. The Greek historian Polybius (Πολύβιος, circa 200-118 BC), recounted the events when commenting on a speech by Cassander of Aegina at a meeting of the Achaean League at Megalopolis in 186/185 BC, during the reign of Eumenes II, Attalus' son and successor.

"Next rose Cassander of Aegina and reminded the Achaeans of 'The misfortunes which the Aeginetans had met with through being members of the Achaean league; when Publius Sulpicius sailed against them with the Roman fleet, and sold all the unhappy Aeginetans into slavery.' In regard to this subject I have already related how the Aetolians, having got possession of Aegina in virtue of their treaty with Rome, sold it to Attalus for thirty talents."

Polybius, Histories, Book 22, chapter 11. At Perseus Digital Library.

If there was a mention of the sale of Aegina to Attalus earlier in Polybius' Histories it has not survived. He did mention Publius Sulpicius' harsh reply to pleas by the captured Aeginetans that they be ransomed rather than enslaved (Book 9, chapter 42).

According to Livy (Titus Livius, 64/59 BC - 17 AD), citing Valerius Antias (first century BC), Aegina was presented as a gift to Attalus along with the war elephants given up by Philip V of Macedonia according to the terms of his peace treaty with Rome in 196 BC, following his defeat by Proconsul Titus Quinctius Flamininus at the Battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 BC. However, Attalus is thought to have died in Pergamon before or shortly after the battle.

"Valerius Antias adds that the island of Aegina and the elephants were presented as a gift to Attalus, who was absent ..."

14. The death of Attalus I

See:

Livy, The History of Rome, Book 33, chapters 1-2. At Perseus Digital Library.

"At the same time King Attalus, who had fallen ill at Thebes and then removed from Thebes to Pergamum, died in his seventy second year, after he had been on the throne for forty four years. Fortune had bestowed upon this man nothing but wealth to give him hope of royal power. By using this both wisely and splendidly he brought it about that he seemed worthy of the throne, first in his own eyes, then in those of others. Then when in a single battle he had conquered the Gauls, a people the more terrible to Asia by reason of their recent arrival, he assumed the title of king, and thenceforth his greatness of soul always matched the greatness of his distinction. He ruled his subjects with perfect justice, exhibited remarkable fidelity to his allies, was courteous to his wife and sons — four survived him — and kind and generous to his friends; he left a kingdom so strong and well-established that possession of it was handed down to the third generation."

15. The altar on Aegina

Aegina Archaeological Museum, Greece. Inv. No. 1331.
Height 48 cm, diameter 28.5 cm.

The cylindrical altar of poros limestone was found at the harbour of Aegina, near the Church of Kimisis Tis Theotokou (Κοίμησις της Θεοτόκου, Παναγίτσα). The lettering of the inscription was painted red, and is thought to have been originally gilded.

Διὶ καὶ Ἀθηνᾶι
ὑπὲρ βασιλέως
Ἀττάλου
Σατυρῖνος, Καλλίμαχος
καὶ οἱ ὑπ’ αὐτοὺς ἡγεμόνες
καὶ στρατιῶται.

To Zeus and Athena, for King Attalus, (dedicated by) Satyrinos, Kallimachos and their subordinate officers and soldiers.

Inscription IG IV² 2 765 (SEG 25 320).

See: Κωνσταντίνος Κουρουνιώτος, Αιγίνης μουσεϊον (Konstantinos Kourouniotes, Aigina Museum). In: Αρχαιολογική Εφημερίς, 1913, pages 86-98 (altar on page 91, Βωμός μεζ επιγραφής γραπτής, and fig. 8). Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία (Archaiologike Ephemeris, journal of the Archaeological Society of Athens). P. D. Sakellariou, Athens, 1913. At Heidelberg University Digital Library.

16. The statues of defeated Gauls at Pergamon

The history of the two sculptures is conjectural. Following its discovery, the "Capitoline Gaul" was at first known as the "Dying Gladiator", and the "Ludovisi Gaul" was named "Arria and Paetus". However, the figures were subsequently identified as Gauls (or Galatians) and associated with Pergamon, and it was considered that they could only have been produced by Greek sculptors. It has also been suggested that they were made at Pergamon, perhaps even around the time of the bronze originals.

"With our present knowledge of the history of art, we cannot suppose that sculpture in Rome was ever capable of originating a figure of such wonderfully powerful modelling, and such dignity of pathos ; nor is the choice of subject in itself credible."

Ernest Arthur Gardner, A handbook of Greek sculpture, page 454. MacMillan and Co., London, 1897.

Pliny the Elder mentioned a number of artists who had made (bronze) sculptures of battles between the Attalids and Galatians, but did not say when these works were made or where they stood.

"Several artists have represented the battles fought by Attalus and Eumenes with the Galli; Isigonus, for instance, Pyromachus, Stratonicus, and Antigonus, who also wrote some works in reference to his art."

Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 34, chapter 19. At Perseus Digital Library.

These names and others have been discovered on inscribed statue bases at Pergamon. A little later in the same chapter, Pliny wrote that a sculptor named Epigonus had made a statue of a trumpeter.

"Epigonus, who has attempted nearly all the above-named classes of works [statues of gods, philosophers, comic playwrights and athletes], has distinguished himself more particularly by his Trumpeter, and his Child in Tears, caressing its murdered mother."

Inscribed signatures of a sculptor named Epigonos (Επίγονος ἐποίησεν) have also been found at Pergamon.

See: Max Fraenkel, Altertümer von Pergamon, Band 8, Die Inschriften von Pergamon, I. Bis zum Ende der Königszeit, Nos. 12, 22b, 29, 31, 32. Königliche Museen zur Berlin. Verlag von W. Spemann, Berlin, 1890. At Heidelberg University Digital Library.

17. The invention of parchment at Pergamon

In his encyclopedic work Natural History (Naturalis Historia), Pliny the Elder ascribed the story of the invention of parchment at Pergamon to the Roman scholar Varro (Marcus Terentius Varro, also known as Varro Reatinus, 116-27 BC), most of whose works have been lost.

18. Writing on animal skins

Herodotus writes that the Ionian name for paper was "skins" (διφθέραι, diphtherai), which he supposes went back to ancient times before papyrus was easily available, and that many "foreign peoples" still write on goat and sheep skins.

19. Marc Antony and the Library of Pergamon

41-31 BC the Roman politician and general Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius, 83-30 BC) ruled the eastern half of the Roman Empire, which included Greece and Asia Minor, while Octavian (later to become Emperor Augustus) ruled the west.

If the accusation of Calvisius is true, Antony may have given the books from Pergamon's library to Cleopatra to replace those destroyed by the fire at the Library of Alexandria in 48 BC. Julius Caesar is said to have caused the fire accidentally when he burnt his own ships in Alexandria harbour as a tactical ploy. Read more about Antony and Cleopatra on Athens Acropolis gallery page 8.

Plutarch (Greek: Πλούταρχος; name as Roman citizen Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, Μέστριος Πλούταρχος, circa 46-120 AD), Greek historian, biographer and essayist, born in Chaeronea, Boeotia, central Greece.

20. The Astynomoi Law of Pergamon

Also referred as the "Law of Astynomoi", "Astynomos Law" or "Astynomic Law", and in German as "die Astynomeninschrift von Pergamon".

The limestone slab was found shattered into 13 fragments by German archaeologists in 1901, in a house at the southeast of Pergamon's Lower Agora, where it had been used as flooring. The top left corner of the slab is missing, but otherwise it contains an almost complete inscription proclaiming the legislation concerning the powers, duties and responsibilites of the astynomoi (Ancient Greek, ἀστυνόμος, plural ἀστυνόμοι, municipal administration; from ἄστυ, city, and νόμος, law), civic officials charged to control the condition and maintenance of buildings, thoroughfares and waterworks. The modern Greek words αστυνομία (astynomia, police) and αστυνόμος (astynomos, policeman) are derived from this concept.

The law states who is responsible for the work and costs involved in maintaining public roads, streets and paths, water cisterns, springs, conduits, fountains, toilets, sewers and rubbish collection, as well as public and private boundary walls. The aim is evidently order and cleanliness, and the law specifically forbids clothes to be washed or animals to drink from public fountains. Stealing paving stones is also among activities prohibited.

Each astynomos was responsible for a particular zone, in which he was to record and report on cisterns in private houses, and ensure that owners kept them clean and covered. He was obliged to impose fixed fines on transgressors, and hand the money either to the civic treasurers or to those who suffered damage due to a neighbour's negligence; officials who failed to charge the fine or report to the authorities were themselves fined.

The office of astynomos existed in many Greek cities, particularly in Ionia. In the fourth century BC Athens had 10 astynomoi who were selected by lot. Aristotle mentions astynomoi as a type of official essential to the ideal city.

See: Aristotle, Politics, Book VI, Section 1321b, lines 18-27. At Persus Digital Library.

The inscription has been dated to the second century AD, probably during the reign of Emperor Trajan or Hadrian. However, it is thought that the legislation itself may have originally been written in the time of the Attalid kings, in the second century BC, perhaps during the reign of Eumenes II (197-159 BC). The epigraphist Günther Klaffenbach (1890-1972), who wrote a study of the inscription in 1953, believed that the Attalid law was defunct by the Roman Imperial period, and that it was meant as a "summa honoraria", a dedication to the ancient office of the astynomoi, set up by an astynomos as a gift to the city.

The slab is made of light blue-grey limestone.

Width 105 cm, present height 82 cm, thickness 5 - 8.5 cm.

The upper left corner of the slab, containing the first 34 lines of column 1, is missing. The bottom of the slab has a roughly-cut edge.

237 lines of text have survived, written in 4 columns, each around 25 cm wide, with 35 letters per line. The law is arranged in paragraphs, similar to modern legislative clauses.

Inscription SEG 13 521 (= OGIS 483).

See:

H. von Prott and Walther Kolbe, Die Astynomeinschrift. Die Arbeiten zu Pergamon 1900-1901. In: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung, Band XXVII, 1902, pages 47-77. Beck und Barth, Athens, 1902. At the Internet Archive.

Günther Klaffenbach, Die Astynomeninschrift von Pergamon. In: Abhandlungen der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Klasse für Sprachen, Literatur und Kunst, Jahrgang 1953, Nummer 6, Pages 3-25, 2 plates. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 1954.

James H. Oliver, The date of the Pergamene Astynomos Law. Hesperia, Volume 24, No. 1 (January - March 1955), pages 88-92. American School of Classical Studies at Athens. At ascsa.edu.gr.

Sara Saba, Cisterns in the Astynomoi Law of Pergamon. Essay in: Cynthia Kosso, Anne Scott, The Nature and Function of Water, Baths, Bathing, and Hygiene from Antiquity Through the Renaissance, pages 249-262. Brill, Leiden, 2009.

Sara Saba has recently written a new study of the Astynomoi Law, which I have unfortunately not yet seen:

21. "The acropolis of Pergamus" by Thomas Allom

"The acropolis of Pergamus", 1882, by English architect and landscape artist Thomas Allom (1804-1872). Engraved by Archibald L. Dick (1805 - circa 1855).

From: Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823-1901), A pictorial history of the world's great nations, from the earliest dates to the present time. Selmar Hess, New York, circa 1882.

22. Bust of Carl Humann in Berlin

Bust of Carl Humann by Adolf Brütt (1855-1939), Pergamon Museum, Berlin.

The bust was unveiled on 18 December 1901, when Kaiser Wilhelm II opened the first Pergamon Museum (demolished in 1908). In the present Pergamon Museum (opened 1930) it has been relegated to a back-lot, and has stood for years out of sight and inaccessible to the public, in a corridor leading to a lecture room behind the Pergamon Altar, opposite the bust of another German archaeologist, Theodor Wiegand (1864-1936) by Carl-Blümel (photo right). Wiegand also excavated at the Heraion on Samos (1910-1911) and at Pergamon (1927), and in 1898 rediscovered the site of the ancient Panionion, near the Turkish village of Güzelçamlı, on the coast opposite Samos (see Samos gallery page 29).

23. Bust of Alexander Conze in Berlin

Archaeologist Alexander Conze (1831-1914) was Director of Ancient Sculptures in Berlin 1878-1886. He led the the excavations at Pergamon 1878-1886 for the Königliche Museen zu Berlin (Royal Museums, Berlin, now the State Museums, Berlin, SMB). He also led excavations at Samothraki for the Austrian Imperial Ministry of Culture and Education in 1873 and 1875.

His many publications include a catalogue of the Ancient sculptures in the Royal Collection of Classical Antiquities in Berlin, 1891.

Bronze bust made by Fritz Klimsch in 1913.

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