War of Aristonicus

Attalus III, Permagene king until his death in 133 BC, willed the kingdom to Rome; Aristonicus' invasion of Pergamum, the intervention of local Anatolian powers, and Roman attempts to assert their claim precipitated the conflict.

The Romans and their local allies were victorious after some setbacks, capturing Aristonicus at the Stratonicea in Lydia in 130 BC under then-consul Marcus Perperna.

[14] Amid these setbacks, Aristonicus opened his ranks to slaves, likely an expedient rather than an egalitarian social policy, and then triggered a series of Anatolian kings to raise their banners, including Nicomedes II of Bithynia, Mithridates V of Pontus, and Ariarathes V of Cappadocia.

He distributed land from Pergamum to allied princes who aided Roman war efforts: Phrygia became part of Pontus; Lycaonia was given to Cappadocia.

[25] A senatorial decree stating that governors were to accept Attalus III's decisions was dated by many scholars to late in 133 BC,[26] suggesting that Rome decided on provincialisation from an early point.

[27] Erich S. Gruen in The Hellenistic world and the coming of Rome, however, suggests that the decree was passed at a later date, probably 129 BC, when a long-term settlement of the region became possible.

[31] Roman war aims were initially minimal, given inscriptional evidence of freedom granted to formerly Pergamene cities pursuant to the Attalid will.

[33] The magistrates sent to Asia until the First Mithridatic War controlled minimal military forces and acted largely within Rome's system of eastern alliances to persuade kings and mediate interstate disputes.

[35] Only after cities in Asia cooperated with Mithridates VI's invasion were most of the formerly Pergamene communities stripped of their immunities and fell under direct Roman administration.