Perched atop a windswept mountain along the Turkish coastline and gazing proudly—almost defiantly—over the azure Aegean Sea sit the ruins of ancient Pergamon. Although the majority of its superb intact monuments now sit in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum， enough remains of the acropolis for the visitor to sense the former greatness of the city that once rivaled Alexandria1， Ephesus2 and Antioch in culture and commerce， and whose scientific advancements in the field of medicine resonate through the corridors of today’s medical treatment facilities. Juxtaposed sharply against this image of enlightened learning is that of “Satan’s Throne”， as described by the prophet John of Patmos， which some scholars interpret as referring to the Great Altar of Pergamon， one of the most magnificent surviving structures from the Greco-Roman world.

帕加马古城的遗迹耸峙在土耳其海岸边一座迎风山的山顶上，骄傲地——几乎是不可一世地——凝视着蔚蓝的爱琴海。虽然遗迹中大部分精美且完好的文物现在存放于柏林的帕加马博物馆，但留在原地的卫城遗迹也足以让游客感受到这座古城当初的辉煌——它曾经可在文化和商业上与亚历山大里亚城、以佛所城和安提俄克城相匹敌，在医学领域里的科学成就响彻今天医疗机构的走廊。与这种开明形象形成鲜明对比的，是拔摩岛上的先知约翰所描述的“撒旦宝座”。有些学者把这个“宝座”解读为帕加马大祭坛，它是希腊罗马世界幸存至今的最雄伟的建筑之一。

The modern visitor approaches the site from the steep and winding road that leads from the modern Turkish city of Bergama just a few miles away. Upon reaching the ruins， the commanding panoramic view from Pergamon’s 1，000-foot-high perch makes it easy to understand how this city once domin-ated the entire region. It was a proud city in its time， and it had reason to be so. Its monuments and buildings were constructed of high-quality white marble in the finest Hellenistic style， and its library rivaled the famed library of Alexandria in Egypt. In the mid-second century A.D.， it became known throughout the Mediterranean world as a center of ancient medicine， largely due to the presence of the eminent Roman phys-ician Galen （c. 129–200 A.D.）， who was born in ancient Pergamon.

如今，游客从今天的土耳其城市贝尔加马出发，沿陡峭且曲折的路走上几英里就能到达帕加马古城。到达之后，从1000英尺高的地方居高临下地俯瞰全景，就不难理解这座城市何以曾经统治整个地区。它在当时是一座骄傲的城市，而且理应如此。城中的塑像和建筑用优质的白色大理石建成，展现出最精美的希腊化时代风格；图书馆堪比埃及闻名遐迩的亚历山大里亚古城图书馆。公元2世纪中叶，帕加马古城在整个地中海地区以古代医学中心著称，主要是因为罗马名医盖伦（约129—约200），他就出生在这座古城。

Pergamon rose to prominence during the years of the empire’s division following the death of Alexander the Great3 in 323 B.C. His short-lived empire was partitioned among his generals， with General Lysimachus inheriting the then-settlement of Pergamon and its wealth. Due largely to its strategic pos-ition along land and sea trading routes and in part to the wealth of the Attalid4 kings who ruled the kingdom， the city enjoyed centuries of prosperity that continued when it passed peacefully to Rome’s control in 133 B.C. From that point on， Pergamon’s fate was inextric-ably linked to that of Rome， and it rose and fell in tandem with the great Roman Empire.

公元前323年，亚历山大大帝去世后，帝国分崩离析，帕加马随之崛起。亚历山大大帝的短命帝国被他手下的将军们瓜分，其中利西马科斯将军接手了当时的帕加马城及城中财富。这座城市繁荣了几个世纪，主要是因为它在海陆商路上处于战略位置，还有部分原因在于执政的阿塔利德王朝国王们拥有大量财富。公元前133年，帕加马被和平移交给罗马控制，此后依然繁荣。从那时起，帕加马城的命运与罗马的命运错综复杂地交织在一起，与伟大的罗马帝国共兴亡。

The oldest and arguably most beautiful section of Pergamon is also its highest. The acropolis of Pergamon rises triumphantly over the ruins of the city that cascades down the steep slopes to the valley below. One of the most dramatic structures of the acropolis was what scholars believe to be the Temple of Zeus， the massive foundations of which are all that remain on the southern slope of the site. The altar believed to be associated with the temple， known today as the Great Altar of Pergamon， was moved to Berlin in the 19th century by German archaeologists， who evidently had an easy time getting permission for its removal from the indifferent authorities of the Ottoman empire.

帕加马城最古老、可谓最美丽的部分也是其最高的部分。