<head>Character of Attalus</head>So died Attalus, and justice demands, as is my practice in the case of others, I should pronounce a few befitting words over his grave.
He possessed at the outset no other quality fitting him to rule over those outside his own household but wealth,
a thing that when used with intelligence and daring is of real service in all enterprises but, when these virtues are absent, proves in most cases the cause of disaster and in fact of utter ruin.
For it is the source of jealousy and plotting, and contributes more than anything else to the corruption of body and soul. Those souls indeed are few who can arrest these consequences by the mere power that riches give.
We should therefore reverence this king's loftiness of mind, in that he did not attempt to use his great possessions for any other purpose than the attainment of sovereignty, a thing than which nothing greater or more splendid can be named.
He laid the foundation of his design not only by the largesses and favours he conferred on his friends, but by his success in war.
For having conquered the Gauls, then the most formidable and warlike nation in Asia Minor, he built upon this foundation, and then first showed he was really a king.
And after he had received this honourable title, he lived until the age of seventy-two and reigned for forty-four years, ever most virtuous and austere as husband and father,
never breaking his faith to his friends and allies, and finally dying when engaged on his best work, fighting for the liberties of Greece.
Add to this what is most remarkable of all, that having four grown-up sons, he so disposed of his kingdom that he handed on the crown in undisputed succession to his children's children.
Walbank Commentary