Archelaus (son of Herod and Malthace)

Also known as: Archelaus / Arehelaus / a king · Family: Herodian · Role: curator · First appears: Book I, Chapter 28

Archelaus was the son of Herod (son of Antipater and Cypros) and Malthace, and brother of Antipas, Antipater (son of Herod and Doris), and Philip (son of Herod and Cleopatra of Jerusalem). He was named as support for Tigranes and Alexander, while Antipater (son of Herod and Doris) sought to remove him and Philip from the way. After Bathyllus exposed Antipater’s forged letters against them, Herod had Antipater slain and altered his testament, making Archelaus king, Antipas tetrarch, and Philip heir of Trachonitis and its neighboring countries.

In Book II, Archelaus declined to take royal authority until Caesar confirmed the succession, but unrest followed: his emissaries were driven from the temple, his soldiers were attacked, and his army killed about three thousand people during the sacrifices before his heralds ended the festival. He then left Philip as steward of the palace and traveled with his mother and friends Poplas, Ptolemy, and Nicolaus. At Rome, Salome (sister of Herod) and others accused him before Caesar, while Archelaus submitted his claim, Herod’s ring, and his accounts; Antipater (son of Salome) argued against him, and Nicolaus defended him. Caesar declared him worthy to succeed his father but postponed a final decision, then granted him half of Herod’s kingdom as ethnarch, promising kingship if he proved worthy.

Salome was made mistress of Jamnia, Ashdod, and Phasaelis, with her household placed under Archelaus’s ethnarchy. Varus and Philip assisted him, while Antipas competed for the kingdom, and Sabinus accused him before Caesar. His ethnarchy later became a Roman province, while Philip and Herod Antipas administered their own tetrarchies.