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Rev_2:12-17. The epistle to the church at Pergamos.
Pergamos or Pergamum in Mysia, on the river Caïcus, not to be confounded with ancient Troy or Pergamum considerably distant to the north,[1102] was distinguished for the temple of Aesculapius, which was regarded as an asylum,[1103] and much visited not only because of its worship, but also because of incubationes[1104] and dream-cures,[1105] vying in glory with the temple of Diana at Ephesus, and the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi,[1106] as well as for its library. By the will of the last and childless King Attalus, this rich place[1107] tell to the Romans. According to Pliny,[1108] Pergamos was the seat of a Roman supreme court. The present Bergamo contains many relics of the ancient city. The earliest record of the Christian church at Pergamos is this in the Apoc. In conformity with Rev_2:13, Tertullian[1109] speaks of Antipas the martyr. Eusebius,[1110] after having treated of Polycarp of Smyrna, makes mention of the martyrs in Pergamos, Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice. The “doctores” mentioned by N. de Lyra held Carpus to be the bishop to whom John wrote. Others call the bishop of Thyatira by that name.[1111]
[1102] Against C. a Lap., Tir.
[1103] Tacitus, Annal., iii. 63.
[1104] [The spending of nights in the temple of Aesculapius as an act of gratitude for some deliverance. Smith’s Dictionary Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 376b.]
[1105] Herodian, Hist., iv. 8. Cf. K.F. Hermann, Lehrbuch d. gottesdienstl. Alterth. d. Griechen, Heidelb., 1846, § 41.
[1106] Cf. Wetst.
[1107] Hor., I., Od. i. 12; II., Od. xviii. 5.
[1108] H. N., v. 33: “Pergamos, by far the most renowned of Asia.—The jurisdiction of that district is called Pergamean. To it belong the inhabitants of Thyatira, and other less honored states.”
[1109] Adv. Gnost. scorp., 12.
[1110] H. E., iv. 15.
[1111] Rev_2:18. Cf. Alcas., C. a Lap.