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Eumenes II (reigned 197-159 BC) continued Pergamon’s alliance with Rome. The Roman-Pergamon alliance led to a war against Sparta as well as Macedon and its king, Perseus (ruled 212-166 BC), during the Third Macedonian War (171-168 BC). <ref> King, p. 258</ref> The Third Macedonian War would prove to be the last one, as Macedon was thoroughly defeated and incorporated into Rome. Pergamon gained little physically from the Third Macedonian War, but it did expand its borders by siding with Rome against Antiochus III (ruled 222-187 BC), king of the Seleucid Empire. As Antiochus III attempted to expand Seleucid territory into Asia Minor, the Romans helped Eumenes II check that aggression, which led to a decisive battle near the Asia Minor city of Manisa in 190 BC. In that battle, the Romans and Pergamonians vanquished the Seleucids from Asia Minor, leaving the Attalids with control over much of the region. In the Peace of Apamea (188 BC), Pergamon’s borders were extended south to Cappadocia <ref> Kästner, p. 35</ref> and with its close relationship with Rome became as powerful as Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid Empire. By the early second century BC, Pergamon’s importance as a political center was undeniable, but its greatness as a cultural center had already been long established.

====The Art and Architecture of Pergamon====

When one considers the greatest cities of the ancient world, Pergamon should certainly be at the top of that list. In many ways it was the jewel of the Hellenistic world, as great as Alexandria or Rhodes and even grander than Seleucia. Pergamon owed its greatness to its first three kings, who made it the political capital of their powerful kingdom, adorned it with beautiful art and architecture, and made it an intellectual center that rivaled Alexandria.

====References====

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