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.

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.

Cappadocia’s Ariobarzanes dynasty had ended in 36 BCE with the execution, by Mark Antony, of King Ariarathes X, and the Cappadocian nobleman Archelaus had been given the throne, by favor first of Antony and then of Octavian.

Archelaus has since maintained tributary independence, having reigned over Cappadocia for fifty years and having lived to an advanced age when, in 17, there is a shortage of funds for military pay in the Roman Empire and Tiberius wants to integrate Archelaus’ kingdom into a Roman province.

Archelaus is enticed by Tiberius to come to Rome, and on arrival is accused by the Roman Senate of harboring revolutionary schemes.

Tiberius hopes Archelaus will be condemned to death by the Senate.

However Archelaus is obliged to remain in Rome, where he dies of natural causes (Tactitus leaves open the possibility that he may have committed suicide).

Cappadocia becomes a procuratorial province and his widow with her family returns to Pontus.

The Romans give Armenia Minor to his stepson Artaxias III to rule as Roman Client King, while the Cilician and the remaining territories of his former dominion are given to his son, Archelaus of Cilicia, to rule as Roman Client King.