Archelaus

Who is Archelaus?

Archelaus was a High priest of the temple-state of Comana, Cappadocia.

Archelaus was a Cappadocian Greek nobleman, possibly of Macedonian descent. He was the son and namesake of the Roman Client Ruler and High Priest of Comana, Cappadocia, Archelaus by an unnamed Greek woman. He also had an unnamed sister and his paternal uncle was the Pontic soldier Diogenes, who served in the army of King Mithridates VI of Pontus. His paternal grandfather also called Archelaus, the Pontic General who participated in the Mithridatic Wars. His paternal grandmother may have been a Pontic Princess one of the daughters born from the concubine of Mithridates VI as his father had descended from Mithridates VI.

In January/February 55 BC after the deaths of his father and sister, Archelaus succeeded his father as High Priest Temple Ruler of the Comana Cappadocia. Archelaus was the High Priest of the Roman Goddess of War, Bellona. When Marcus Tullius Cicero served as Proconsul of Cilicia in 51 BC, Archelaus assisted with troops and money for those who created disturbances in Cappadocia and threatened then King Ariobarzanes III of Cappadocia. Cicero compelled Archelaus to quit the campaign against Ariobarzanes III.