Pergamon
Pergamon lies on the north edge of the Caicus plain in the historic region of Mysia in the northwest of Turkey. The Caicus river breaks through the surrounding mountains and hills at this point and flows in a wide arc to the southwest. At the foot of the mountain range to the north, between the rivers Selinus and Cetius, there is the massif of Pergamon which rises 335 metres above sea level. The site is only 26 km from the sea, but the Caicus plain is not open to the sea, since the way is blocked by the Karadağ massif. As a result, the area has a strongly inland character. In Hellenistic times, the town of Elaia at the mouth of the Caicus served as the port of Pergamon. The climate is Mediterranean with a dry period from May to August, as is common along the west coast of Asia Minor.
Greece in the Roman era
The Greek peninsula fell under Roman rule in 146 BC, after the Battle of Corinth, when Macedonia became a Roman province. Afterwards, southern Greece was under Macedonian hegemony; however, some Greek "poleis" remained partly independent and avoided Roman taxation. In principle, the Kingdom of Pergamon (282 – 133 BC) was annexed to that territory in 133 BC, when King Attalus III (r. 138 – 133 BC. ) willed the lands to Rome; however, the Romans were slow in securing their claim to those lands, and a pretender to the throne of Pergamon, Eumenes III (Aristonicus) led a revolt with the help of the philosopher Blossius, which the Roman army suppressed in 129 BC, when the lands of Pergamon were divided among Rome, the Kingdom of Pontus, and Cappadocia.