Archelaus (Egypt)

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Archelaos († January / February 55 BC ) was the son of the general of the same name of King Mithridates VI. from Pontos . His mother is unknown; perhaps she was one of Mithridates VI's daughters. As the consort of the Ptolemaic Berenike IV. Archelaus practiced from 56 to 55 BC. The rule over Egypt from. He fell in the fight against the Roman general Aulus Gabinius , when this Berenike's father Ptolemy XII. forcibly re-established rule in Egypt.

King of Egypt

63 BC Archelaos was appointed by the Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus as prince and high priest of the goddess of war Bellona in the city of Komana Pontika in Pontos . Aulus Gabinius, the proconsul of Syria , prepared in 56 BC BC a campaign against the Parthians , in which Archelaus wanted to participate. However, the priest then preferred the opportunity then offered to marry Berenike IV, the daughter of Ptolemy XII, in a second marriage. After the expulsion of her father (summer 58 BC), Berenike IV led the government in Egypt, but had been unlucky several times in the search for a consort of royal blood. A male co-regent seemed to be necessary, however, because sole female rule contradicted the Egyptian tradition and Ptolemy XII. campaigned in Rome for his military reinstatement on the pharaoh's seat.

Archelaos was the son of King Mithridates VI. out. It is possible that this claim of his parentage is related to the fact that as the priestly prince of Komana he was the second highest man in the state after the king of Pontus. In any case, Berenike IV took him as a husband. With that the priest ascended in March or April 56 BC The Egyptian throne. According to the ancient geographer Strabo , Gabinius was evaded in this marriage project. After Archelaus' marriage to the Ptolemaic woman, a double counting of the reigning years of the ruling couple was started in papyrus documents, whereby Berenike's second year was equated with the first of her husband. Archelaus, however, should only have been granted a year as Egyptian monarch.

Death fighting Gabinius

Ptolemy XII found at the beginning of 55 BC He joined Gabinius and convinced him through a corresponding letter from Pompey and bribes to put him back on the throne of Egypt by force.

As an experienced general, Archelaus had organized the defense of Egypt against the impending Roman invasion, probably supplementing the Egyptian troops with Jewish mercenaries and setting up some defensive positions east of the Nile delta. In addition, internal Jewish tensions could well be risky for Gabinius' military enterprise. But the Jewish high priest John Hyrcanus II and the Idumean Antipater , the father of Herod the Great , stood on the side of the Roman general and provided him with military and financial help. Antipater evidently caused those Jewish mercenaries to change sides who, on behalf of the Ptolemaic government leaders , should have defended key positions in the run-up to the Egyptian border post at Pelusium . Therefore, Marcus Antonius in command of the vanguard , who at that time was the cavalry leader of Gabinius, was able to advance relatively easily to Pelusium and quickly conquer this border town.

Now there was a battle not far from Pelusium between the army of Archelaus and the troops of Gabinius. The Roman general, in cooperation with his cavalry leader, carried out a pincer attack against Archelaus, which was defeated. Then there was a second military encounter between Roman and Egyptian troops - possibly held at the Tanite arm of the Nile - with Gabinius winning again. Now the resistance of the Egyptians was broken; Archelaus had also found death in battle, probably in the second defeat against the Romans. At least Antonius arranged for an honorable burial for the fallen. Ptolemy XII could around March or April 55 BC BC regain his throne and had his eldest daughter Berenike IV executed immediately.

Archelaos had a son of the same name from his first marriage , who succeeded him as priestly prince of Komana and 47 BC. Was deposed by Gaius Iulius Caesar .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Christopher Bennett, Berenike IV. , Note 19.
  2. ↑ Strabo : Geographika 12, 558 and 17, 796; Appian : Mithridatius. 114.
  3. ↑ W. Huss, 2001, pp. 692f.
  4. ↑ Strabo: Geographika 12, 558 and 17, 796; on this W. Huss, 2001, p. 693, note 96.
  5. ↑ Strabo: Geographika 12, 558 and 17, 796; Cassius Dio : 39, 57, 2; Livy : periochae. 105.
  6. ↑ Strabo: Geographika 17, 796; differently Cassius Dio: 39, 57, 2f.
  7. ↑ W. Huss, 2001, p. 693, note 98.
  8. ^ Josephus : Jewish antiquities. 14, § 99f .; Jewish war. 1, § 175-178.
  9. ^ Plutarch : Antonius. 3, 6f.
  10. ^ Plutarch: Antonius. 3, 9; Cassius Dio: 39, 58, 1.
  11. ↑ Cassius Dio: 39, 58, 1.
  12. ^ Plutarch: Antonius. 3, 10.
personal data
SURNAME Archelaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Komana, husband of Berenike IV.
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century BC BC or 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 55 BC Chr.