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)