A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

262

ARCHELAUS.

had no occasion to refer to it, and of the remarks
of Athenaeus, who ascribes it to Plato's love of scandal. (Thuc. ii. 100; Athen. xi. p. 506, a. e.; Mitford,
Gr. Hist. ch. 34, sec. 1; Thirlwall, Gr. Hist. vol. v.
p. 157.) In B. c. 410 Pydna revolted from Archelaus,
but he reduced it with the aid of an Athenian squadron under Theramenes, and the better to retain it,
in subjection, rebuilt it at a distance of about two
miles from the coast. (Diod. xiii. 49; Wess. ad
loc.) In another war, in which he was involved
with Sirrhas and Arrhabaeus, he purchased peace
by giving his daughter in marriage to the former.
(Aristot. Polit.1. c.; comp. Thirlwall, Gr. Hist. vol.
v. p. 158.) For the internal improvement and security of his kingdom, as well as for its future
greatness, he effectually provided by building fortresses, forming roads, and increasing the army to a
stronger force than had been known under any of
the former kings. (Thuc. ii. 100.) He established
also at Aegae (Arr. Anab. i. p. 11, f.) or at Dium
(Diod. xvii. 16; Wess. ad Diod. xvi. 55), public
games, and a festival which he dedicated to the
Muses and called "Olympian." His love of literature, science, and the fine arts is well known. His
palace was adorned with magnificent paintings by
Zeuxis (Ael. V.H. xiv. 17); and Euripides, Agathon, and other men of eminence, were among his
guests. (Ael. V. I. ii. 21, xiii. 4; Kfihn, ad Ael.
V. H. xiv. 17; Schol. ad Aristoph. Ran. 85.) But
the tastes and the (so-called) refinement thus introduced failed at least to prevent, even if they did
not foster, the great moral corruption of the court.
(Ael. II. cc.) Socrates himself received an invitation from Archelaus, but refused it, according to
Aristotle (Rlet. ii. 23. ~ 8), that he might not subject himself to the degradation of receiving favours
which he could not return. Possibly, too, he was
influenced by disgust at the corruption above alluded to, and contempt for the king's character.
(Ael. V. H. xiv. 17.) We read in Diodorus, that
Archelaus was accidentally slain on a hunting party
by his favourite, Craterus or Crateuas (Diod. xiv.
37; Wess. ad loc.); but according to other accounts
of apparently better authority, Craterus murdered
him, either from ambition, or from disgust at his
odious vices, or from revenge for his having broken
his promise of giving him one of his daughters in
marriage. (Aristot. Polit. v. 10, ed. Bekk; Ael.
V. I-. viii. 9; Pseud.-Plat. Alcib. ii. p. 141.) [E.E.]
ARCHELA'US ('ApXEAaos), a general of MITHRIDATES, and the greatest that he had. He was a
native of Cappadocia, and the first time that his
name occurs is in B.c. 88, when he and his brother
Neoptolemus had the command against Nicomedes
III. of Bithynia, whom they defeated near the
river Amnius in Paphlagonia. In the next year
he was sent by Mithridates with a large fleet and
army into Greece, where he reduced several islands,
and after persuading the Athenians to abandon the
cause of the Romans, he soon gained for Mithridates nearly the whole of Greece south of Thessaly.
In Boeotia, however, he met Bruttius Sura, the
legate of Sextius, the governor of Macedonia, with
whom he had during three days a hard struggle
in the neighbourhood of Chaeroneia, until at last,
on the arrival of Lacedaemonian and Achaean
auxiliaries for Archelaus, the Roman general withdrew to Peiraeeus, which however was blockaded
and taken possession of by Archelaus. In the
meantime, Sulla, to whom the command of the
war against Mithridates had been given, had ar

ARCHELAUS.
rived in Greece, and immediately marched towards
Attica. As he was passing through Boeotia, Thebes
deserted the cause of Archelaus, and joined the
Romans. On his arrival in Attica, he sent a part
of his army to besiege Aristion in Athens, while
he himself with his main force went straight on to
Peiraeeus, where Archelaus had retreated within
the walls. Archelaus maintained himself during a
long-protracted siege, until in the end, Sulla, despairing of success in Peiraeeus, turned against
Athens itself. The city was soon taken, and then
fresh attacks made upon Peiraeeus, with such success, that Archelaus was obliged to withdraw to
the most impregnable part of the place. In the
meanwhile, Mithridates sent fresh reinforcements
to Archelaus, and on their arrival he withdrew
with them into Boeotia, B. c. 86, and there assembled all his forces. Sulla followed him, and in the
neighbourhood of Chaeroneia a battle ensued, in
which the Romans gained such a complete victory,
that of the 120,000 men with whom Archelaus had
opened the campaign no more than 10,000 assembled at Chalcis in Euboea, where Archelaus had
taken refuge. Sulla pursued his enemy as far as
the coast of the Euripus, but having no fleet, he
was obliged to allow him to make his predatory
excursions among the islands, from which, however, he afterwards was obliged to return to Chalcis.
Mithridates had in the meantime collected a fresh
army of 80,000 men, which Doryalus or Dorylaus
led to Archelaus. With these increased forces,
Archelaus again crossed over into Boeotia, and in
the neighbourhood of Orchomenos was completely
defeated by Sulla in a battle which lasted for two
days. Archelaus himself was concealed for three
days after in the marshes, until he got a vessel
which carried him over to Chalcis, where he collected the few remnants of his forces. When
Mithridates, who was himself hard pressed in Asia
by C. Fimbria, was informed of this defeat, he
conmmissioned Archelaus to negotiate for peace on
honourable terms, B. c. 85. Archelaus accordingly
had an interview with Sulla at Delium in Boeotia.
Sulla's attempt to make Archelaus betray his master was rejected with indignation, and Archelaus
confined himself to concluding a preliminary treaty
which was to be binding if it received the sanction
of Mithridates. While waiting for the king's answer, Sulla made an expedition against some of the
barbarous tribes which at the time infested Macedonia, and was accompanied by Archelaus, for
whom he had conceived great esteem. In his answer, Mithridates refused to surrender lis fleet,
which Archelaus, in his interview with Sulla, had
likewise refused to do; and when Sulla would not
conclude peace on any other terms, Archelaus himself, who was exceedingly anxious that peace should
be concluded, set out for Asia, and brought about
a meeting of Sulla and his king at Dardanus in
Troas, at which peace was agreed upon, on condition that each party should remain in possession of
what had belonged to them before the war. This
peace was in so far unfavourable to Mithridates, as
he had made all his enormous sacrifices for nothing;
and when Mithridates began to feel that he had
made greater concessions than he ought, he also
began to suspect Archlelans of treachery, and the
latter, fearing for his life, deserted to the Romans
just before the outbreak of the second Mithridatic
war, B. c. 81. He stimulated Murena not to wait
for the attack of the king, but to begin hostilities