Figure 122

Trajaneum in Pergamum

The Trajaneum (temple) in Pergamum was started under the Roman Emperor Trajan (98–117 AD) and enlarged and completed under Hadrian (117–138 AD). This temple for the worship of the emperor may have been similar to the temple to Tiberius which was built earlier in Smyrna. If one holds to a late date for the writing of Revelation, then this temple to the emperor Trajan was built shortly after the book was written. The temple was uncovered in the 1880’s under the direction of the architect H. Stiller. It was abandoned, but received renewed interest in the 1960’s from the Turkish Antiquities and the German Archaeological Institute.