Philetaerus

Philetaerus. Bust from the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum, now in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.

Philetaerus: ruler of Pergamon (283-263), founder of the Attalid dynasty.

Relatives:

Father: Attalus, a Macedonian
Mother: Boa, a Paphlagonian

Main deeds:

c.340: Birth of Philetaerus
As a eunuch, was commander of Pergamon, and responsible for a treasury of 9,000 talents.
After 302 and the battle of Ipsus (301), he was loyal to Lysimachus.
In the court intrigue that plagued Lysimachus in 283 (text), Philetaerus sided with Lysandra, wife of Lysimachus' executed son Agathocles; they fled to Seleucus in Babylon.
Late 282: Seleucus invades Lysimachus' Asian possessions.
February 281: Seleucus defeats Lysimachus at Corupedium; Philetaerus restored.
Summer 281: Seleucus assassinated by Ptolemy Keraunos; Philetaerus pays for the dead body and sends the remains to Seleucia, where Seleucus' son Antiochus inters them.
Philetaerus remains loyal to the House of Seleucus and is lord of Pergamon and the valley of the Caicus. He also gains influence in the Greek world.
He adopts his nephews Attalus and Eumenes.
263: Death. He received divine honors as Euergetes ('benefactor')

Succeeded by: Eumenes I

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