Salvete!
I am just reading the “Breviarium” by Eutropias as my first ancient author. Eutropius repeatedly mentions that some king or other bequeaths his kingdom to the Romans:
I find it hard to believe that anyone would give his kingdom to another people, even if he didn’t have any direct descendant. Is anything known about these “testaments”? Might they be some sort of fraud on the Romans’ side? If they were real, why would anyone do such a thing?
Valete,
Carolus Raeticus
Yeah, Attalus III. I don’t know of any suggestion that there was any kind of fraud by Rome–such as pressure to bequeath it to Rome. They say he had no interest in politics and that he was trying to avoid the political chaos that might erupt after his death, since he had no heirs. Chaos erupted anyway. Aristonicus, who said he was Attalus III’s half-brother (but an illegitimate son), led an uprising, which was soon ended. It caused a bit of chaos in Rome as well–what to do with the income.
The case of Nicomedes IV was more complicated, since by that time Rome was deeply involved in the region.