“To the angel of the assembly in Pergamum write:” Rev 2:12.
“The early people of the town were descendants of Greek colonists, and as early as 420 bc they struck coins of their own. … Attalus I (241-197 BC) … adorn[ed] the city with beautiful buildings until it became the most wonderful city of the East … Art and literature were encouraged, and in the city was a library of 200,000 volumes which later Antony gave to Cleopatra. The books were of parchment which was here first used; hence, the word ‘parchment,’ which is derived from the name of the town Pergamos. … When in 133 BC … the last king … died, he gave his kingdom to the Roman government. … and the Roman province of Asia was formed, and Pergamos was made its capital. … Of the structures which adorned the city, the most renowned was the altar of Zeus, which was 40 ft. in height, and also one of the wonders of the ancient world. … A title which it bore was ‘Thrice Neokoros,’ meaning that in the city three temples had been built to the Roman emperors, in which the emperors were worshipped as gods. Smyrna, a rival city, was a commercial center, and as it increased in wealth, it gradually became the political center. Later, when it became the capital, Pergamos remained the religious center. As in many of the towns of Asia Minor, there were at Pergamos many Jews, and in 130 BC the people of the city passed a decree in their favor. Many of the Jews were more or less assimilated with the Greeks, even to the extent of bearing Greek names.”
“Pergamos; Pergamum,” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
“Pergamum continued to rank for two centuries as the capital, and subsequently, with Ephesus and Smyrna, as one of the three great cities of the province; and the devotion of its former kings to the Roman cause was continued by its citizens; who erected on the Acropolis a magnificent temple to Augustus. … Pergamum was the chief centre of the imperial cult under the early empire, and, in W. M. Ramsay’s opinion, was for that reason referred to in Rev. ii. 13 as the place of ‘Satan’s throne.’ It was also an early seat of Christianity, and one of the seven churches.”
“Pergamum,” The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 21, p. 143.
Leave a Reply