Died 192 B.C. Spartan tyrant who ruled from 207 to 192.
Nabis was descended from the royal family of the Eurypontidai. Pursuing the policy of the Spartan kings Agis IV and Cleomenes III and that of his predecessor, the tyrant Machanidas, Nabis implemented a series of radical social measures. He executed or exiled many of the oligarchs, confiscated the holdings of large-scale landowners for distribution to landless Spartans and Helots, and granted the Helots citizenship. Nabis’ expansion of the franchise increased the strength of the Spartan Army. The same reforms were carried through in Argos, which Nabis had seized; he also attempted to seize Messene.
The threat that social reforms would spread throughout the Peloponnesus caused the Achaean League to go to war against Nabis. Titus Quinctius Flamininus, commander of the Roman Army in Greece, came to the aid of the league. After peace was concluded in 195 B.C., Nabis retained power only over Sparta proper. An attempt at vengeance through renewed war with the Achaean League ended in defeat on land and at sea. Nabis was treacherously murdered, and Sparta was soon annexed by the Achaean League. Accounts of Nabis’ actions are found in the works of the classical authors Polybius, Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, Livy, and Pausanias.
a group of artists active in Paris from approximately 1890 to 1905. The group’s members included P. Sérusier, M. Denis, K. Roussel, and, later, P. Bonnard, E. Vuillard, and A. Maillol. Influenced by P. Gauguin and the Pont Aven school, the Nabis formulated a distinctive variant of the art nouveau style. Their work, which is close to the spirit of symbolism in literature, is dominated by color, a decorative generalization of form, musical rhythms, and a two-dimensional stylization of motifs from French folk art, Japanese engravings, and early Italian art. The works of Sérusier, Denis, and Roussel are imbued with a mystical, religious mood. The works of Bonnard and Vuillard are distinguished by informal, lyric imagery. The Nabis worked in monumental painting, graphic art, and decorative applied art (designs for rugs, store windows, and furniture).