SPARTANI. – In the books of the Maccabees one reads with surprise that Jews and S. considered themselves “brothers.” In II Mach. 5:9 there is only a brief reference to a friendly relationship, whereas in I Mach. 12:1–23; 14:20–23 there is discussion of a genuine alliance concluded by Ionathan (v.) Simone (v.). On the occasion of the conclusion of the alliance, the author reports not only Ionathan’s letter (12:6–18), but also a curious, more ancient document, the letter of King Areus to the high priest Onia (12:19–23). This document states that the S. had learned from a “writing” that they were “brothers” with the Jews insofar as they were descendants of Abraham; Areus therefore proposes a kind of community of goods. In his letter Ionathan expressly refers to this document, communicates brief news, requests the renewal of this brotherhood, whose sentiment, he says, had never ceased among the Jews, and presents the ambassadors bound for Rome to renew the alliance.
The singularity of these texts has raised a major problem of historical criticism. Some, in order partly to evade the difficulty, have spoken of S. of Asia Minor (Hitzig) or of Cyrene (Büchler); others (Kautzsch, Wilamowitz-Moellendorf, Willrich) reject all these documents, or at least some of them, as forged. A. Momigliano rejects what concerns the alliance promoted by Ionathan, whereas Bickermann limits himself to repudiating the letter of Areus, on which the greatest doubts converge.
Those who recognize the authenticity of the documents identify King Areus I (309–265 B.C.) as the correspondent of the high priest Onia I. Various ingenious hypotheses have been attempted to explain the “kinship.” But it may have been a simple legend arising in the Jewish colonies, in Sparta or in some Hellenistic city. Its mention in the Bible confers no particular authority upon it; it rests solely on the belief of Areus. The proposed community of goods should perhaps be understood as an emphatic expression intended to accentuate the spirit of friendship. Areus’s letter was probably prompted, besides a certain affinity between the two peoples, by practical motives that now escape us. Ionathan’s letter is readily explained by his policy of seeking alliances and diplomatic support. The existence of Areus’s document, and the importance still enjoyed by the free city of Sparta, explain his gesture.
Angelo Penna
ELIO. — One of the six
writers of the
Historia Augusta.
To him are attributed
the lives: of Hadrian,
based on the auto-
biography of that
Emperor or on
other sources (cf. chs.
1, 3, 5, 7, 16 and Vita
Ael. Veri, 3); of Aelius
Verus, addressed to Dio-
cletian, in the prologue
of which he declares
that it is his intention
also to write the lives
of those who were merely Cae-
sars or princes, without
ascending the imperial
throne; of Didius
Julianus; of Septi-
mius Severus; of Pescennius Niger; of Caracalla; and of Geta,
the latter dedicated to Constantine.