Alexander

Who is Alexander?

Alexander, also known by his Roman name Gaius Julius Alexander was a Herodian Prince.

Alexander was the second born son of Alexander and Glaphyra. His oldest brother was called Tigranes and had a younger unnamed sister. His father Alexander was a Judean Prince, of Jewish, Nabataean and Edomite descent and was a son of King of Judea, Herod the Great and his wife Mariamne. His mother Glaphyra was a Cappadocian Princess, who was of Greek, Armenian and Persian descent. She was the daughter of the King Archelaus of Cappadocia and her mother was an unnamed Princess from Armenia, possibly a relation of the Artaxiad Dynasty. Alexander was the namesake of his father. His name reflects his Hasmonean and Hellenic lineage.

Alexander was born and raised in Herod’s court in Jerusalem. After the death and burial of his father in 7 BC, Herod acted in an extreme and brutal manner returning his mother to Cappadocia, forcing her to leave her children under the sole custody of Herod in Jerusalem. Alexander and his brother remained under Herod’s guardianship so he could be able to control their fates. Another son of Herod’s Antipater, was concerned for Alexander and his brother as he expected them to attain higher station than their own late fathers, because of the assistance Antipater considered likely from their maternal grandfather Archelaus. In the time Alexander lived in Herod’s court, he was betrothed to the daughter of Pheroras. Pheroras was Alexander’s paternal great-uncle and was Herod’s brother. Antipater persuaded Herod to call off Alexander’s betrothal to Pheroras’ daughter because Antipater convinced his father that closer ties between Pheroras and Archelaus of Cappadocia were liable to develop into a plot against Herod.