Appendix B: Ancient Sources on Pergamum, Satan's Throne, and Antipas

Collected quotations from ancient writers relevant to this study, arranged by source type and chronology. All quotations are to be verified against standard critical editions.

I. Roman and Greek Writers on Pergamum

Strabo, Geography, Book 13.4.1-3 (c. 7 BC --- 23 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted]

Source: Loeb Classical Library, trans. H.L. Jones Context: The fullest ancient geographical description of Pergamum. Describes the acropolis, temples, library, and the city’s layout.

Pliny the Elder, Natural History (c. 77 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- references to Pergamum, the library, parchment (charta pergamena), the Asklepion]

Source: Loeb Classical Library, trans. H. Rackham Context: Writing contemporaneously with the probable date of Revelation. Provides a Roman view of Pergamum’s cultural and medical significance.

Tacitus, Annals 4.37 (c. 116 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- the competition of eleven Asian cities for the right to build an imperial temple to Tiberius in 26 AD, and Pergamum’s exclusion because they already had one to Augustus]

Source: Loeb Classical Library, trans. J. Jackson Context: This passage directly confirms Pergamum’s status as the first imperial cult center in the province of Asia. Critical evidence for the imperial cult identification of Satan’s throne.

Cassius Dio, Roman History 51.20.7 (c. 200-222 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- Augustus’s permission for Pergamum to build a temple to himself in 29 BC]

Source: Loeb Classical Library, trans. E. Cary Context: Records the origin of the imperial cult at Pergamum.

Aelius Aristides, Sacred Tales (Hieroi Logoi) (c. 170 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- descriptions of the Asklepion, dream incubation, serpent encounters, healing rituals]

Source: C.A. Behr, Aelius Aristides and the Sacred Tales (Amsterdam, 1968) Context: Firsthand account of a devotee who spent years at the Pergamum Asklepion. The most detailed ancient description of what went on inside the serpent-god’s sanctuary.

Galen of Pergamum (various works, c. 160-200 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- references to his training at the Pergamum Asklepion and the medical-religious practices there]

Source: [To be identified] Context: The most famous physician of antiquity was born and trained in Pergamum.

Pausanias, Description of Greece (c. 150-180 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- references to Pergamum’s cults and the fame of the Asklepion]

Source: Loeb Classical Library, trans. W.H.S. Jones Context: Provides comparative information about the Asklepios cult across the Greek world.

II. Early Church Fathers on Revelation 2:12-17

Irenaeus, Against Heresies (c. 180 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- any references to the Pergamum letter, Satan’s throne, or the seven churches]

Source: ANF Vol. 1, trans. Roberts-Donaldson Context: Irenaeus knew Polycarp, who knew the apostle John. He is our earliest major interpreter of Revelation.

Tertullian (c. 200 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- references to the Pergamum church, martyrdom in Asia Minor, or the seven churches]

Source: ANF Vol. 3, trans. [verify per specific work] Context: Earliest Latin writer to engage with Asian church traditions.

Origen (c. 230 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- any commentary on Revelation 2:12-17]

Source: ANF Vol. 4, trans. Crombie Context: Origen’s allegorizing approach may offer a different reading of “Satan’s throne.”

Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse (c. 270 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- comment on Revelation 2:12-17]

Source: ANF Vol. 7, trans. M.B. Riddle [verify] Context: The earliest surviving Latin commentary on Revelation. Critical for understanding how the early church read this passage.

Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse (c. 563-614 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- comment on Satan’s throne and Antipas]

Source: [To be identified --- Greek text and translation] Context: The most influential Greek commentary on Revelation in the Byzantine tradition.

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse (c. 6th century)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted]

Source: [To be identified] Context: Another early Greek commentator on Revelation.

III. The Martyrdom of Antipas

Acts of Antipas (Martyrium Sancti Antipae) (c. 5th-6th century)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- the key narrative of Antipas’s arrest, trial, and execution by brazen bull]

Source: [To be identified --- Acta Sanctorum, Bollandist edition, or other critical edition] Context: The principal hagiographic account of Antipas’s death. Claims he was bishop of Pergamum, arrested under Domitian, and executed by being placed inside a bronze bull heated from below.

Martyrologium Romanum, entry for April 11

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted]

Source: Vatican edition Context: The official Roman Catholic liturgical commemoration of Antipas.

Menologion of Basil II (c. 1000 AD)

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted --- Byzantine liturgical entry for Antipas]

Source: [Vatican Library manuscript] Context: Byzantine tradition about Antipas.

Synaxarion of Constantinople

[Full quotation to be researched and inserted]

Source: [To be identified] Context: Eastern Orthodox liturgical tradition about Antipas.

IV. Archaeological Reports

Carl Humann and the Excavation of the Great Altar (1878-1886)

Key publication: Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen zu Pergamon (Berlin, 1880-1888)

[Key descriptions to be researched and inserted --- the discovery of the altar, its dimensions, the Gigantomachy frieze, the reconstruction in Berlin]

Context: The German excavations that brought the Great Altar to Berlin and provided the first modern documentation of the acropolis.

German Archaeological Institute (DAI) Pergamon Excavations

Key publications: Altertumer von Pergamon series (Berlin, 1885-present)

[Key findings to be summarized --- imperial cult temple, Asklepion excavations, Red Basilica, etc.]

Context: The ongoing German excavation project at Pergamum, one of the longest-running archaeological projects in classical archaeology.

V. Inscriptions

Provincial Imperial Cult Inscriptions from Pergamum

[To be researched --- key inscriptions documenting the imperial cult, the neokoria, and provincial ceremonies]

Source: Inscriptions of Pergamum (Inschriften von Pergamon, IvP) Context: Epigraphic evidence for emperor worship at Pergamum.

Asklepion Dedicatory Inscriptions

[To be researched --- inscriptions from the Asklepion documenting healing claims, dedications to Asklepios Soter, and the cult’s operation]

Source: Inscriptions of Pergamum (IvP) Context: Epigraphic evidence for the Asklepios cult.

Summary of Sources by Date

Date	Source	Type	Relevance
c. 7 BC-23 AD	Strabo, Geography	Greek geographer	Description of Pergamum
29 BC	Augustus’s decree (via Cassius Dio)	Roman imperial decree	Origin of imperial cult
c. 77 AD	Pliny, Natural History	Roman encyclopedist	Contemporary view of Pergamum
c. 95 AD	Revelation 2:12-17	Scripture	The primary text
c. 116 AD	Tacitus, Annals	Roman historian	Imperial cult competition
c. 170 AD	Aelius Aristides, Sacred Tales	Personal account	Asklepion firsthand
c. 160-200 AD	Galen	Physician	Asklepion medical context
c. 180 AD	Irenaeus, Against Heresies	Church father	Earliest major Revelation interpreter
c. 200 AD	Tertullian	Church father	Latin perspective
c. 200-222 AD	Cassius Dio, Roman History	Roman historian	Augustus and Pergamum
c. 270 AD	Victorinus, Commentary	Church father	Earliest Latin Revelation commentary
c. 6th century	Acts of Antipas	Hagiography	Martyrdom tradition
c. 6th-7th century	Andrew of Caesarea	Church father	Major Greek Revelation commentary
1878-1886	Humann excavations	Archaeology	Discovery of the Great Altar