a city of Troas, very considerable in the time of John the
evangelist, Rev. ii, 12, 13. This city was, for the space of one hundred
and fifty years, the capital of a kingdom of the same name founded by
Philetærus, B. C. 283; who treacherously made use of the treasures
committed to his care by Lysimachus after the battle of Ipsus, and,
seizing on Pergamus, established an independent kingdom. After
Philetærus were five kings of the same race; the last of whom, Attalus
Philopater, left his kingdom, which comprehended Mysia, Æolis, Ionia,
Lydia, and Caria, to the Roman empire; to which it belonged when the
first Christian church was established there. This church early became
corrupted by the Nicolaitans, for which it was reproved by St. John, and
charged quickly to repent, Rev. ii, 14–16. Pergamus, now called Bergamo,
like most other places which have been cursed by the presence of the
Turks, is reduced to comparative decay, containing a poor population,
who are too indolent or too oppressed to profit by the richness of their
soil and the beauty of the climate. The number of inhabitants, however,
is still said to amount to thirty thousand, of whom three thousand are
Greek Christians. Many remains of former magnificence are still to be
found; among which are those of several Christian churches. It is about
sixty miles north of Smyrna. The celebrated physician Galen was a native
of this place.
evangelist, Rev. ii, 12, 13. This city was, for the space of one hundred
and fifty years, the capital of a kingdom of the same name founded by
Philetærus, B. C. 283; who treacherously made use of the treasures
committed to his care by Lysimachus after the battle of Ipsus, and,
seizing on Pergamus, established an independent kingdom. After
Philetærus were five kings of the same race; the last of whom, Attalus
Philopater, left his kingdom, which comprehended Mysia, Æolis, Ionia,
Lydia, and Caria, to the Roman empire; to which it belonged when the
first Christian church was established there. This church early became
corrupted by the Nicolaitans, for which it was reproved by St. John, and
charged quickly to repent, Rev. ii, 14–16. Pergamus, now called Bergamo,
like most other places which have been cursed by the presence of the
Turks, is reduced to comparative decay, containing a poor population,
who are too indolent or too oppressed to profit by the richness of their
soil and the beauty of the climate. The number of inhabitants, however,
is still said to amount to thirty thousand, of whom three thousand are
Greek Christians. Many remains of former magnificence are still to be
found; among which are those of several Christian churches. It is about
sixty miles north of Smyrna. The celebrated physician Galen was a native
of this place.