Overview
Philetaerus (; , Philétairos, c. 343 –263 BC) was the founder of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon in Anatolia.
Early life and career under Lysimachus
Philetaerus was born in Tieium (Greek: Tieion), a small town on the Black Sea coast in Anatolia. His father Attalus (Greek: Attalos) was Greek and his mother Boa was from Paphlagonia.
After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Philetaerus became involved in the Wars of the Diadochi among Alexander's regional governors, Antigonus in Phrygia, Lysimachus in Thrace, and Seleucus in Babylonia (among others). Philetaerus first served under Antigonus. He then shifted his allegiance to Lysimachus, who, after Antigonus was killed at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, made Philetaerus commander of Pergamon, where Lysimachus kept a treasury of nine thousand talents of silver.
Ruler of Pergamon
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