33.21
It was
at this time that Attalus, who owing to his illness had been carried from
Thebes to Pergamum, died there in his seventy-second year after a reign of
forty-four years. Beyond his wealth Fortune had bestowed nothing on this
man which could lead him to hope that he would ever be king. But by
making a wise use of his riches and at the same time employing them on a
magnificent scale he gradually began to be regarded, first in his own
estimation and then in the eyes of his friends, as not unworthy of the crown.
In one decisive battle he defeated the Gauls -a nation all the more dreaded
because they had migrated into Asia comparatively recently -and after this
victory he assumed the royal title and ever after justified it by a
corresponding greatness of soul. He governed his subjects with absolute
justice and showed exceptional loyalty to his allies; affectionate towards his
wife and his children, four of whom survived him, he was considerate and
generous to his friends and left his kingdom so settled and secure that the
possession of it descended to the third generation of his posterity. This was
the state of things in Greece, Asia and Macedonia, when just as the
campaign against Philip was brought to a close and before peace had been
definitely established a serious war broke out in Further Spain. M. Helvius
was administering the province, and he wrote to the senate to inform them
that the tribal chiefs Culchas and Luxinius were in arms. Fifteen fortified
towns were taking part with Culchas, whilst Luxinius was supported by the
strong cities of Carmo and Bardo, the Malacini and Sexetani on the coast
and the whole of Baeturia. In addition to these the tribes which had not yet
disclosed their intentions were prepared to rise as soon as their neighbours
moved. After M. Sergius, the city praetor, had read this despatch in the
senate a decree was passed ordering that after the new praetors were elected
the one who obtained Spain as his province should as soon as possible ask
for the senate's instructions as to the military operations there.
