Asiar'chae. (chief of Asia). (Authorized Version; Act_19:31). Officers chosen annually by the cities of that part of the province of Asia of which Ephesus was, under Roman government, the metropolis. They had charge of the public games and religious theatrical spectacles, the expenses of which they bore.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
Asiar′chae (Act_19:31; Authorized Version 'certain of the chief of Asia'). These asiarchae, who derived their appellation from the name of the province over which they presided (as Syriarchae, 2Ma_12:2. Lyciarch, Cariarch, etc.), were in Proconsular Asia the chief presidents of the religious rites, whose office it was to exhibit every year, in honor of the gods and of the Roman emperor, solemn games in the theater. This they did at their own expense, whence none but the most opulent persons could bear the office, although only of one year's continuance. The appointment was much as follows: at the beginning of every year (i.e. about the autumnal equinox) each of the cities of Asia held a public assembly, in order to nominate one of their citizens as asiarch. A person was then sent to the general council of the province, at some one of the principal cities, as Ephesus, Smyrna, Sardis, etc. to announce the name of the individual who had been selected. Of the persons thus nominated by the cities the council designated ten, and it is probable that one chosen by the proconsul was pre-eminently the asiarch, but that the other nine acted as his assessors and also bore that title.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.