Archelaus (in Greek Αρχέλαος, died 17) was the last king of Cappadocia. He was the great-grandson of Archelaus, a general in the First and Third Mithridatic Wars. In 36 BC, Archelaus was made king by Mark Antony, whom, however, he deserted after the Battle of Actium. Octavian enlarged his kingdom by the addition of part of Cilicia and Lesser Armenia. He was not popular with his subjects, who even brought an accusation against him in Rome, on which occasion he was defended by Tiberius. Subsequently he was accused by Tiberius, when emperor, of endeavouring to stir up a revolution, and died in confinement in Rome. Cappadocia was then made a Roman province. Archelaus was said to have been the author of a geographical work, and to have written treatises On Stones and Rivers.
| Preceded by Ariarathes X |
King of Cappadocia 36 BC–17 AD |
Succeeded by — |
References
Strabo xii. p. 540; Suetonius, Tiberius, 37, Caligula, 1; Dio Cassius xlix. 32-51; Tacitus, Ann. ii. 42. This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
