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.