Attalus Philometor, the king of Pergamon, died and made the people of Rome his heirs. Pergamon was a very rich and large city in Turkey, where Roman rule was beginning to creep in violently. Attalus had watched the long horrific wars in Greece and Macedonia and had seen the Romans brutalise everyone in their path so he hoped to spare his city and his people. He knew that the Romans would come for Pergamon soon enough and, by surrendering rule of the city to the Romans in his will, he gave them control of Pergamon without any bloodshed.
