Arius

ARIUS, or Areus, King of Sparta, of whom there is mention in 1 Macc. xii. 7. and in Josephus, Antiq. l. xii. c. 5. This Prince wrote a letter to the High-Priest Onias, the terms whereof are to be seen in the first book of Maccabees xii. 20. One particular of it was this, that the Lacedæmonians were the Jews Brethren, that is to say, sprung from the same original, having Abraham for their Father. Hereupon the reader may see our Dissertation concerning the Relation between the Jews and Spartans, in the beginning of the books of Maccabees¹. Areus’s letter was written upon a square piece of paper, and the seal was an eagle holding a dragon in his claws v. The date of this letter we do not know, nor what Onias it was addressed to, or by what Arius it was written. But we know, that Onias the third was made High-Priest in 3805, and was depos’d in 3829; and that Arius the second King of Lacedæmon reigned after the year 549 from the foundation of Rome, that is to say, since the year of the world 3805. He died at eight years of age. Acrotatus the second was his Father and Predecessor, and Leonidas the Son of Cleonymus was his Successor. So that if this letter be his, it must be consider’d rather as the work of his Council, not as his own, since he died so young. We know of another Arius, King of Lacedæmon, who is more celebrated in history. He died four and forty years before Onias the third was made High-Priest. But in his reign we find Onias the first, who governed or was High-Priest from the year 3682 to 3702. And as Arius the first began to reign in 3700, we may likewise fix the epoch of this letter under Onias the first, in the first or second year of Arius the first.

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