Attalos I and Aigina

As a result of their alliances with Rome in the first two wars with Macedon, the Attalids made a number of small territorial gains in the western Aegean. Among these was the island of Aigina, which was captured by the Romans in 210 B.C., during the First Macedonian War, passed into the possession of the Aitolians in accordance with the terms of their treaty with Rome, and was finally purchased from them by Attalos I of Pergamon for the sum of thirty talents (Polyb. xxii. 8. 10): Αἰτωλοί, κύριοι γενόμενοι τῆς πόλεως κατὰ τὰς πρὸς Ῥωμαίους συνθήκας, Ἀττάλῳ παραδοῖεν, τριάκοντα τάλαντα παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ λαβόντες. This action requires some explanation, especially as the issue has been obscured by the widely held view that Attalos' fleet took part in the capture of the island; some clarification can be found in the literary accounts referring to Attalos' activity during the first years of his involvement in the war. Rome, as is well known, avoided total commitment in Greece even after Laevinus' treaty of 212/11.