Overview
Eumenes II
(d. 158 bc)
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(d. 158 bc),
king of Pergamum (197–158). The family solidarity of Eumenes, his mother, and his three brothers gave unusual inner strength to the dynasty. Eumenes, immediately threatened by the Seleucid Antiochus III, was Rome's major ally in the war against him, culminating in the battle of Magnesia (189), and he made the greatest gains from the ensuing Peace of Apamea (188), which divided Seleucid territory north of the Taurus (mountains in southern Anatolia) between Pergamum and Rhodes. Pergamum became immediately rich but also a guarantor of stability in the Roman interest, though Roman support did not mean peace. In the 170s Eumenes' building programme transformed Pergamum into a splendidly equipped capital city and produced the zenith of Pergamene plastic art (e.g. the Great Altar of Zeus); contacts with major Greek centres—Athens, Miletus, Delphi, Cos—were marked by massive gifts.
