Let us take a brief look at the ancient city of Pergamos- to the end of the first century A.D.-
Another derivative for the name of Pergamos is Pergamum and it was located on the river Caicus in ancient Greece in Asia Minor. This river flowed through it and another ran past it. The city's name meant "height or elevation" because the original part of the city was built as a fortress and palace on top of a local hill. It was the capital of Attalus the Second's kingdom, that was given by him to the Romans in 133 B.C. It was famous for its library, founded by Eumenes (197-159), and destroyed by Caliph Omar. Parchment, that is, Pergamena charta, was here discovered for scroll purposes. The city was also famous for the magnificent temple of Aesclepius, the healing god. The city itself, especially in the days of the Roman Empire, was situated on the plain below this hill and was estimated to have had, in Roman times, a population of nearly one quarter million people. In the first century it was the farthest north of the seven churches in Asia Minor. At the present it is called by the Turks, Bergama, in case you may want to visit there or find it on a map.

A more detailed look at the political history of Pergamum-
After the death of Alexander the Great, his empire was divided among his four generals. One general was named Seleucus Nicator and he was the ruler over the Seleucid Kingdom that included part of Europe, Asia, Babylon, and India. This was over three hundred years before the birth of Christ. The Seleucid kingdom embraced the Hellenistic culture and they maintained Greek customs and manners as they ruled over the conquered countries. A rich, Greek-speaking ruling class dominated the Seleucid empire throughout its three hundred year history. One of the Seleucids was named Antiochus IV, a type of antichrist. He erected an idol to Zeus in the Jewish temple at Jerusalem. He also sacrificed a pig (an unclean animal) on the temple altar to Satan. This caused a twenty five year war beginning in 165 B.C. The Maccabean victory took political control away from the Seleucids and reinstated the free nation of Judea in Palestine until the Romans came along. But that was some distance from Asia Minor.

A royal family known as the Attalids initially ruled Pergamum as subjects of the Seleucid Kingdom and it became the political capital of Asia with Helenic (Greek) culture. However, King Eumenes I declared himself independent of King Antiochus I in 263 B.C. After he died in 241 B.C. he was succeeded by his nephew Attalus I, who defeated the Galatians and assumed the royal title- this dynasty received its political name from him. Pergamum, under the Attalids, achieved independence and the Attalians were always resident there and ruled from there. On a broader scope, the first defeat of the Seleucids by the Romans happened in 190 B.C. and it was politically down hill for the Seleucids from then on. The Attalid territory around Pergamum (Mysia) was greatly expanded. This expansion was accomplished as the result of Eumenes II's alliance with Rome. Attalus III gave the Attalid province to Rome in 133 B.C. Rome accepted it and set up the Roman Province of Asia in 129 B.C., which included Ionia and the territory of Pergamum, but left the other regions to neighboring kings, who were subjects of Rome. Pergamum, not Ephesus, became the capital city of the Roman Province of Asia. It was that way when the Apostle John came upon the scene.

A more detailed look at the culture of Pergamum:
The most important thing about Pergamum was that it had a Christian church whose members offered the Living Bread to those there who were spiritually hungry. But, let us go back before the church was there and take a look at the pre-Christian cultural aspects of this city.

The building of the city was one of the most outstanding Greek examples of city planning in that period. The Attalids built the city of Pergamum to be one of the most important cities in Asia Minor. The fortress and palace on the hilltop were beautiful- nearly works of art. The rulers of Pergamum collected many works of art from all over Greece to adorn the city's temples and courtyards. As well, many local artists from Asia Minor created many sculptures, paintings, and decorations that were used. The civic buildings of the lower city included a large marketplace, a gymnasium, and a great royal library founded by Eumenes about 159 B.C. This great library had more than 200,000 parchment scrolls. Mark Antony, the Roman Emperor, gave this library to his mistress, Cleopatra, who transferred it to her home country of Egypt. She sent these masterpieces to the city of Alexandria and boasted that she had the greatest library in the world- and much of it came from Pergamum. The Romans also built in Pergamum an amphitheatre, a theatre, and a racetrack.

The economic history of Pergamum-
Pergamum exported agricultural supplies, silver, parchment, and slaves to Rome. Before Cleopatra got her hands on the royal library at Pergamum, a story was told that Egypt was supposed to ship a large amount of Egyptian papyrus to Pergamum. Papyrus was processed and used to write on in those day. I guess you can say that it was the writing paper of it's day. However, an Egyptian ruler was jealous of Pergamum's library, so he stopped the shipment of papyrus from going there. So, what did Pergamum do? They invented their own writing material called parchment that was much superior to Egyptian papyrus. It was invented and manufactured in Pergamum and sold to Rome and elsewhere. This allegedly happened about the second century B.C. Just what was parchment? Parchment was made from the skin of an animal, properly prepared, so it could be written on or used in book binding. Delicate skins of a calf, kid, or lamb came to be called vellum, a more expensive form of parchment.

The religious history of Pergamum:
Pergamos was a city very much given to idolatry, here Satan reigned to get the worship that he craved. The early Greeks felt more comfortable worshipping Satan and idols than the Holy One of Israel. A group of early gods worshipped by the Greeks at Pergamum was the Cabiri. The Cabiri were worshiped over much of Asia Minor, on the islands nearby, and in central Greece. These gods were believed to be promoters of fertility and protectors against misfortune, especially for seafarers. This false cult slowly died out after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.

Citizens of Pergamum raised a temple to Athena (Athene), the female goddess of war (known to the Romans as Minerva). They raised a temple to Hera (the wife of Zeus), and Demeter (a female divinity of the underworld). They raised a temple to Dionysus (Dionysos, Dionysius), the son of Zeus, also known to the Romans as Bacchus, the goat-god or the god of wine. In Greek mythology, he was pictured as having two horns on his head. From the waist up he appeared as a man but from his waist down he appeard as a goat with cloven feet and a tail. To the church, this image symbolically represented Satan as having two horns and a tail because Satan was connected with the worship of this god at Pergamum.

A temple was erected in Pergamum to Augustus Caesar in 29 B.C., and a temple was built to worship the Roman Emperor, Hadrian. Pergamum was the center of Caesar worship for the imperial cult of the whole Roman province of Ionia. Incense was offered to the emperor's idol as to god. A true Christian could be marked for death if he or she refused to do worship the emperor as a god.

In Pergamum, there was altar to Zeus (with an idol on it), and also an altar to Jupiter.

There was a round temple in Pergamum built to worship the snake god. There were different ways of spelling his name- the Greek way was Asklepios (Asclepius), but the Latin way was Aesculapius (Esculapius or Aesclepius). He was the Greek god of medicine, the son of Apollo. He was taught the art of healing and became a skillful physician. However, Zeus (the king of the gods), afraid that Asklepios might make all men immortal, killed him with a thunderbolt. Asklepios was honored as a hero and eventually worshiped as a god. The cult began in Thessaly but spread to many parts of Greece and Asia Minor. Because it was supposed that Asklepios made people well in their dreams, the practice of sleeping in his temples became common. This temple became a healing center for the entire area. There were medical doctors there, as well as a healing spa, and cures were dispensed for the healing of the sick.

Asklepios, to the Greeks, appeared as a standing man, dressed with a long cloak. He carried a wood staff with a serpent coiled around it. However, to the orientals who lived in Asia Minor (the Anatolians), he was perceived as a snake- that's how it was in Pergamum. He was the snake god of healing but he was linked to the devil and considered evil
(Revelation 12:9 & 20:2). Of course, the devil was already linked to the snake in biblical typology (Genesis chapter three) and was worshipped in Pergamos. Possibly, this is one reason the good Lord referred to it as the throne of Satan.

Antipas- My Faithful Martyr
We do not know the personal name of every martyr for Christ but some we do. Not much is known today about Antipas- the Lord's faithful martyr in Pergamum but let me say this- the devil has a will. His will is to retard or stop God's plans and he can use many ways and individuals to accomplish his will. The Devil was blamed because he was the one who instigated the persecution of God's overcomers. He was the one behind it all. In other words, the devil was the one who was ultimately responsible for the suffering of the overcomers in Pergamum. When you and I have problems, we may blame a certain person or a set of circumstances. But we must never discount the possibility that Satan can be behind some of them. As pertained to this specific Overcomer, the Lord Jesus layed the real blame at the feet of Satan. Satan's plan was to use the enemies of the Christians to prevent and stop the progress of the Gospel, and to deter others both from preaching and living it.