It will be helpful to begin a new paragraph here (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible).

The consul wrote the same thing to Demetrius the king and to Attalus and Ariarathes and Arsaces: Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version avoid the phrase The consul by naming Lucius (verse 16). But since this begins a new paragraph, we may also say “The Roman high official Lucius.” Wrote the same thing is translated by Good News Bible as “wrote the same letter” (similarly Contemporary English Version). Demetrius the king is Demetrius~II, who was still a prisoner in Parthia; Rome did not recognize Antiochus~VII as king of the Seleucid Empire. Attalus was the king of Pergamum, which was in the western part of what is now Turkey. Ariarathes was the king of Cappadocia, which was immediately north of Syria. Arsaces was the ruler of Parthia (see 1Macc 14.2).

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Maccabees. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.