Herod’s second wife, Mariamne I, has borne him two sons, Alexandros (b. 35 BCE) and Aristobulus (b. 31 BCE), and two daughters, Salampsio and Cypros.

Mariamne's father, Alexander of Judaea, the son of Aristobulus II, had married his cousin Alexandra, daughter of his uncle Hyrcanus II, in order to cement the line of inheritance from Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, but the inheritance had soon continued the blood feud of previous generations, and eventually led to the downfall of the Hasmonean line.

Mariamne, by virtue of her parents' union, claims Hasmonean royalty on both sides of her family lineage.

Josephus writes that it was because of Mariamne's vehement insistence that her husband, Herod, had made her brother, Aristobulos III, High Priest.

Within a year of his appointment, Aristobulos, who was not yet eighteen, had in 36 BCE drowned at a party in Jericho; Alexandra, his mother, blamed Herod.

Alexandra had written to Cleopatra, begging her assistance in avenging the boy's murder.

Cleopatra in turn had urged Mark Antony to punish Herod for the crime and Antony had sent for him to make his defense.

Herod left his young wife in the care of his uncle Joseph, along with the instructions that if Antony should kill him, Joseph should kill Mariamne.

Herod apparently believed his wife to be so beautiful that she would become engaged to another man after his death and that his great love for Mariamne prevented him from enduring a separation from her, even in death.

Joseph became familiar with the Queen and eventually divulged this information to her and the other women of the household, which did not have the hoped-for effect of proving Herod's devotion to his wife.

Rumors soon circulated that Herod had been killed by Antony, and Alexandra had persuaded Joseph to take Mariamne and her to the Roman legions for protection.

However, Herod was released by Antony and had returned home, only to be informed of Alexandra's plan by his mother and sister, Salome.

Salome also accused Mariamne of committing adultery with Joseph, a charge which Herod initially dismissed after discussing it with his wife.

After Herod forgave her, Mariamne inquired about the order given to Joseph to kill her should Herod be killed, and Herod then became convinced of her infidelity, saying that Joseph would only have confided that to her were the two of them intimate.

He gave orders for Joseph to be executed and for Alexandra to be confined, but did not punish his wife.

Glaphyra, born and raised in Cappadocia, is a royal princess of Greek, Armenian and Persian descent, whose father is the Roman ally king Archelaus of Cappadocia; her only natural sibling is her younger brother Archelaus of Cilicia.

Her paternal grandfather was the Roman ally and priest-king Archelaus of the temple state of Comana in Cappadocia, while her paternal grandmother, for whom she was named, was the hetaera Glaphyra.

The priest-kings of Comana descend from Archelaus, the favorite high-ranking general of Mithridates VI of Pontus, who may have married a daughter of that monarch.

Glaphyra's mother, the first wife of Archelaus, is an Armenian Princess whose name is unknown and who dies by 8 BCE.

She may have been a daughter of King Artavasdes II of Armenia, son of Tigranes the Great and Cleopatra of Pontus, a daughter of Mithridates VI.

If so, Glaphyra’s parents may have been distant relatives.

The Emperor Augustus in 25 BCE had given Archelaus extra territories to govern, including the new port city of Elaiussa Sebaste, located fifty-five kilometers (thirty-four miles) from present Mersin in the direction of Silifke in Cilicia on the southern coast of Anatolia, which Archelaus has renamed in honor of Augustus (Sebaste is the Greek equivalent word of the Latin "Augusta".)

The royal family has settled here, and Archelaus has built a royal residence and a palace on the island in the harbor.

Glaphyra holds the high ranking title of ‘king’s daughter’, reflecting of her descent and high birth.

She is an attractive and dynamic woman, reputed to be charming, desirable, and a force to be reckoned with.

Augustus encourages intermarriage among the families of Roman ally kings.

King Herod the Great of Judaea usually marries his children to relatives or to his subjects.

However, Herod wants his son Alexander to marry a foreign princess.

Herod negotiates a marriage alliance with Archelaus.

Glaphyra marries Alexander either in 18 BCE or 17 BCE in Herod’s court in Jerusalem.

Archelaus provides Glaphyra with a dowry, which Herod later returns to her.

The union of Alexander and Glaphyra is described as happy.

Glaphyra becomes a Jew upon her marriage and she does adopt Judaism, even though no mention of conversion is made in the account of her first marriage.

Glaphyra is to bear Alexander three children: two sons, Tigranes and Alexander and an unnamed daughter.

The names of Glaphyra and Alexander's children reflect their cultural ancestry and royal descent.

Herod, called “the Great,” has ruled the Roman client-kingdom for thirty-six years, during which period Jerusalem has reached its peak of greatness, growing in wealth and expanding even beyond the new double line of walls.

Toward the end of Herod's life, the complex demands of a vast family, involving at least nine wives, have led him into difficulties regarding the succession, and it is now that he develops into the gruesome and vicious figure that Christian tradition has made so familiar in the Gospel according to Matthew.

Owing to the course of the war against the Nabataeans initiated the previous year, Herod has fallen into disgrace with the Roman emperor Augustus.

Herod again suspects murderous intentions on the part of Alexander, the eldest of his two surviving sons by Mariamne I, whose execution he had ordered, on a trumped-up charge of adultery, twenty years earlier.

Herod in 8 BCE accuses Alexander and Aristobulus, his sons from Mariamne I, of high treason.

He is in this year reconciled with Augustus, which also gives him the permission to proceed legally against his sons.

The court hearing takes place in Berytos (Beirut) in 7 BCE before a Roman court, which finds Alexander and Aristobulos guilty.

The succession is changed following their execution so that Antipater, Herod’s son from Doris, is the exclusive successor to the throne.

The succession incorporates Herod Philip, his son from Mariamne II, in second place.

Archelaus of Cappadocia had remarried in 8 BCE, this time to the widowed Greek Client Monarch Pythodorida of Pontus, who has two sons and a daughter from her first husband Polemon I of Pontus.

When Archelaus married Pythodorida, she moved her and her family from the Black Sea to Elaiussa Sebaste.

Pythodorida is to remain with Archelaus until he dies; they will produce no offspirng.

Archelaus’ marriage to Pythodorida links their kingdoms together; thus, both monarchs have indirect control of their spouses’ realms.

Their marriage arrangement, like that of Archelaus’ daughter Glaphyra to Alexander of Judea, was doubtless orchestrated by Augustus, thereby to bind together the royal houses of Anatolia as surrogates for Roman suzerainty Although Archelaus is liked by the Romans, he experiences less success with his subjects.

On one occasion during the reign of Augustus, some Cappadocian citizens had lodged an accusation against Archelaus in Rome.

Future Roman Emperor Tiberius, beginning his civil career, had defended Archelaus from these accusations, which had ended to no avail.

Archelaus gives greater attention to Gaius Caesar, one of Augustus’ grandsons, than to Tiberius, who is one of Augustus’ stepsons.

This has caused Tiberius to become jealous, in time leading to his hatred of him.

Between 6 BCE – and CE 2, Tiberius has lived in self-imposed on the Greek island of Rhodes, while Gaius Caesar is in the Eastern Mediterranean performing various political and military duties on behalf of Augustus.