ARIUS (1Ma_12:7; 1Ma_12:20).A king of Sparta, grandson and successor of Cleomenes II. His reign lasted from b.c. 309 to b.c. 265, and he was contemporary with the high priest Onias I., the successor of Jaddua. Friendly letters were interchanged between Arius and Onias (probably about b.c. 300); and Jonathan Maccabeus refers to these communications in a letter which he sent by his ambassadors to Sparta (c [Note: circa, about.] . b.c. 144), 1Ma_12:7 ff., 1Ma_12:19 ff. AV [Note: Authorized Version.] Darius in v. 7 is due to corrupt text.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
a-rı̄?us, ā?ri-us (Ἄρης, Árēs): The reading of the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 ad) adopted in the Revised Version (British and American) for the former reading Areus and Areios of Josephus. A king of Sparta (309-265 bc) who wrote the letter to Onias, the high priest, given in 1 Macc 12:7, 20-23. There were two Spartan kings named Arius, and three high priests named Onias. Chronology requires the letter mentioned to have been written by Arius I to Onias I, most probably in the interval between 309 and 300 bc. See LACEDAEMONIANS.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.