Friday In Pergamon

Friday -- Acropolis. Because I am sitting in the sun on a Greek or Roman stone way up over a valley away from the sea in Pergamon, I will write about that site.  [Ed. Note:  See Out of Istanbul and subsequent two posts for pictures.]  The city was founded by Alexander the Great in the Fourth Century BC, when he transformed a little town into a city to house the treasures of his empire.  It was far enough away from the sea to be safe from pirates and high enough to make access.very difficult. 

I am right by what is left of the Agora the commercial center of the city.  The Agora was surrounded by columns. This where the merchants sold the goods of the time. It is also where they sold slaves on a platform in the middle of the square. Both men and women were presented on the platform absolutely naked like an animal so they could be inspected, I think all slaves in history were treated in the same fashion.

The second largest library in the world after Alexandria was in Pergamon which means windy peak. Because relations were not good between the Romans and the Egyptians, they could not get papyrus. This led to the development of the mass production of parchment paper. As always necessity is the mother of invention.

There is also an old theater built by the Greeks. It only sat 10,000. During the Roman times John the Evangelist visited this city and it is mentioned in the New Testament.  Eventually the Romans moved the city to Ephesus in the first century AD.

Asclepion -- This is one of the first hospitals worldwide.  It was not for those dying but for those who were curable. The cures were as much psychological as medical.  There were places of sacrifice at the entrance of the clinic. If a person had a bad leg they might sacrifice a wooden leg. There was also animal sacrifice. There were areas for bed and sleep, a corridor with soothing running water with coaches above cheering the patients on.

PS:  First picture from my room at the hotel on the Aegean Sea.