Archelaus
Archelaus, ethnarch of
Judea, was the son of
Herod the Great and Malthace and brother of
Herod Antipas. He received the kingdom of Judea by the last will of his father, though a previous will had bequeathed it to his brother
Antipas. He was proclaimed king by the army, but declined to assume the title until he had submitted his claims to
Augustus Caesar at
Rome. Before setting out, he quelled with the utmost cruelty a sedition of the Pharisees, slaying nearly 3000 of them. At Rome he was opposed by Antipas and by many of the Jews, who feared his cruelty; but in
4 BC Augustus allotted to him the greater part of the kingdom (
Judea,
Samaria, Ituraea) with the title of ethnarch. He married Glaphyra, the widow of his brother Alexander, though his wife and her second husband, Juba, king of
Mauretania, were alive. This violation of the Mosaic law and his continued cruelty roused the Jews, who complained to Augustus. Archelaus was deposed in the year
6 and banished to
Vienne in
France. The date of his death is unknown.
Archelaus is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew 2:22, and the parable of the pounds in the Gospel of Luke 19:11-27 probably refers to his journey to Rome.
- (from an old encyclopedia)