Archela'us(Ἀρχέλαος), 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 arrived 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 commissioned 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 his 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 Archelaus 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 at once. From this moment Archelaus
is no more mentioned in history, but several writers state incidentally, that he was honoured
by the Roman senate. (Appian, de Bell. Mithrid. 17-64; Plut. Sull. 11_24; Liv. Epit. 81 and 82; Vell. 2.25;
Florus, 3.5; Oros. 6.2; Paus. 1.20.3, &ec.; Aurel. Vict. de Vir.
Illustr. 75, 76; Dio Cass. Fragm. n. 173, ed. Reimar.; Sallust. Fragm. Hist. lib. iv.)