Archelaus (är-ke-lâ'us), chief, or prince of the people. A son of Herod the Great, by Malthace his Samaritan wife. Herod bequeathed to him his kingdom, but Augustus confirmed him in the possession of only half of it—Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, with the title of ethnarch, or chief of the nation. After about ten years, on account of his cruelties, he was banished to Vienne in Gaul; and his territories were reduced to the form of a Roman province under the procurator Coponius. In Matthew 2:22, he is said to be king, referring to the interval immediately after the death of Herod, when he assumed the title of king.