Prior to becoming king, Attalus was already an accomplished military commander. In 192 BC he was sent by his brother Eumenes to
Rome to warn against
Antiochus III. In 190 BC, he was present in the
Battle of Magnesia which resulted in a defeat against the Seleucids. Around 189 BC he led his forces to fight alongside the
Roman Army under
Gnaeus Manlius Vulso in
Galatia. From 182-179 BC, he defeated the
Kingdom of Pontus under
Pharnaces I, gaining some territory. In 172, Eumenes, returning from a visit to Rome, was attacked near
Cirrha and was believed to be dead. Attalus, upon learning of this, married his brother's widow
Stratonice and became king of Pergamon. When his brother returned, he divorced Stratonice and ceded the power to his elder brother without a fight. Attalus II also made frequent diplomatic visits to Rome, and sent frequent envoys such as
Andronicus of Pergamum, gaining the esteem of the Romans. At one point, they offered him assistance to overthrow his brother, but he declined. When his brother died in 159 BC, his nephew was too young to rule at the time, so he ascended the throne as regent and married Stratonice once again. The Romans had assisted him in his own battles against
Prusias II in 156–154 BC. In the summer of 152, he,
Ptolemy VI,
Ariarathes V, and Rome, helped the pretender
Alexander Balas to seize the Seleucid throne from
Demetrius I and in 149 BC, he helped
Nicomedes II Epiphanes to seize the
Bithynian throne from his father
Prusias II. Attalus expanded his kingdom with the help of his good friend
Ariarathes V of Cappadocia, and founded the cities of
Philadelphia and
Attalia (Antalya). He was well known as a patron of the arts and sciences, and was the inventor of a new kind of
embroidery. In his old age, he relied upon his chief minister, named Philopoemen (Φιλοποίμην), to help him govern. He repelled a raid by the
Parthians. He was succeeded by his nephew
Attalus III upon his death. == Notes ==