Archelaus of Cappadocia

Archelaus (; fl. 1st century BC and 1st century, died 17 AD) was a Roman client prince and the last king of Cappadocia. He was also husband of Pythodorida, Queen regnant of Pontus.

Family and early life Archelaus was a Cappadocian Greek nobleman. His full name was Archelaus Sisines. Archelaus' father served as the High Priest of the Roman Goddess of War, Bellona. Archelaus had a brother called Sisines.

The paternal grandfather of Archelaus, also known as Archelaus, was the first in his family to be High Priest and Roman Client Ruler of Comana. His paternal grandfather claimed to be descended from King Mithridates VI of Pontus. Chronologically, his paternal grandfather may have been a maternal grandson of the Pontic King—his father Archelaus, the favorite general of Mithridates VI, may have married one of his monarch's daughters.

In 47 BC the Roman Dictator Gaius Julius Caesar after the conclusion of his military victory against the Triumvir Pompey, deprived and deposed his father of his office of high priest and rule over Comana. His father was replaced by another Greek nobleman called Lycomedes. Pompey was their family patron and it was he that appointed his paternal grandfather to his post in Comana. Glaphyra had been a hetaera, a type of courtesan. Glaphyra was famed and celebrated in antiquity for her beauty, charm, and seductiveness.

Through their affair, Glaphyra had induced Antony to install her son Archelaus as king of Cappadocia. In 36 BC, Antony deposed and then executed the reigning king, Ariarathes X, and installed Archelaus as his successor. His mother appeared to possess great political power at the Royal Court. was: , Archelaus Philopatris Ktistes, Archelaus, lover and founder of his country in Greek. In his early reign Archelaus married what is believed to be his first wife, an unnamed princess from Armenia, who married Cleopatra of Pontus, a daughter of Mithridates VI from his first wife, his sister Laodice, thus Artavasdes II was a maternal grandson to Mithridates VI and Laodice. With his first wife, Archelaus had two children: a daughter called Glaphyra through whom he had further descendants, and a son called Archelaus of Cilicia.

Archelaus was an ally to Antony, until his defeat at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, where Archelaus defected to Octavian. By making peace with Octavian, Archelaus was able to retain his crown.

When Octavian became the first Roman Emperor Augustus, Archelaus became an important client monarch to Rome, and Augustus considered Archelaus loyal. Augustus had no commitment to provincialization as a matter of policy. In 25 BC, Augustus assigned Archelaus to rule Cilicia Trachea, the harbor city of Elaiussa Sebaste, as well as parts of the surrounding Cilician coast and Armenia Minor. Sebaste is the Greek equivalent word of the Latin word Augusta. Archelaus renamed a village, Garsaura, to Archelaïs, turning it into an administrative centre, which later became a colony under the Roman Emperor Claudius. In appreciation, Herod reconciled Archelaus to the Roman Governor of Syria.

In 8 BC, the recently widowed Archelaus married Pythodorida of Pontus, another Roman client monarch. Pythodorida had two sons and a daughter from her recently deceased first husband Polemon I of Pontus. When Archelaus married Pythodorida, she and her family moved from the Black Sea to Elaiussa Sebaste. Pythodorida remained with Archelaus until he died; they had no children. This marriage linked their kingdoms, and thus both monarchs had indirect control of their spouses' realms. Their marriage arrangement was doubtless orchestrated by Augustus in order to bind together the royal houses of Anatolia as surrogates for Roman suzerainty. and, when Augustus also died in 14 AD, Tiberius succeeded his adoptive father as Roman Emperor. By this time, Archelaus' health had failed.

In Archelaus' final year, there was a shortage of funds for military pay and Tiberius wanted to convert Cappadocia into a Roman province. Tiberius enticed Archelaus to come to Rome. When he arrived in Rome he was accused by the Roman Senate of plotting a revolution. Tiberius hoped Archelaus would be condemned to death by the Senate. However, Archelaus died of natural causes before this could occur (Tacitus leaves open the possibility that he may have committed suicide). Cappadocia became a Roman province and his widow returned to Pontus with her family. The Romans gave Armenia Minor to Archelaus' step-son Artaxias III to rule as a client king, while the remaining territories of his former dominion were given to his son to rule in the same fashion.