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The War against Nabis, or the Laconian War, of 195 BC was fought between the Greek city-state of Sparta and a coalition composed of Rome, the Achaean League, Pergamum, Rhodes, and Macedon. During the Second Macedonian War (200–196 BC), Macedon had given Sparta control over Argos, an important city on the Aegean coast of Peloponnese. Sparta's continued occupation of Argos at the end of war was used as a pretext for Rome and its allies to declare war. The anti-Spartan coalition laid siege to Argos, captured the Spartan naval base at Gythium, and soon invested and besieged Sparta itself. Eventually, negotiations led to peace on Rome's terms, under which Argos and the coastal towns of Laconia were separated from Sparta and the Spartans were compelled to pay a war indemnity to Rome over the next eight years. Argos joined the Achaean League, and the Laconian towns were placed under Achaean protection. As a result of the war, Sparta lost its position as a major power in Greece. Subsequent Spartan attempts to recover the losses failed and Nabis, the last sovereign ruler, was eventually murdered. Soon after, Sparta was forcibly made a member of its former rival, the Achaean League, ending several centuries of fierce political independence. ==Background== After the death of the Spartan regent Machanidas in 207 BC in battle against the Achaean League, Nabis overthrew the reigning king Pelops with the backing of a mercenary army and placed himself on the throne, claiming descent from the Eurypontid king Demaratus.〔 By then, the traditional constitution of Lycurgus had already lost its meaning and Sparta was dominated by a group of its former mercenaries. Polybius described Nabis' force as ''"a crowd of murderers, burglars, cutpurses and highwaymen"''.〔Polybius (13.6 )〕 In 205 BC, Nabis signed a peace treaty with Rome, but in 201 BC he attacked the territory of Messene, at that time an ally of both parties, which Sparta had ruled until the mid 4th century BC. The Spartans captured Messene but were soon forced to abandon it when the army of Megalopolis〔Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' "(Nabis )"〕 arrived under the command of Philopoemen. Later, they were decisively defeated at the Tegea and Nabis was forced to check his expansionist ambitions for the time.〔〔Polybius (16.13 )〕 During the Second Macedonian War, Nabis had another possibility for expansion. Philip of Macedon offered him the polis of Argos in exchange for Sparta defecting from the Roman coalition and joining the Macedonian alliance.〔Livy 32.39〕 Nabis accepted and received control over Argos. However, when the war turned against Macedon, he rejoined the Roman coalition and sent 600 Cretan mercenaries to support the Roman army.〔〔Livy 32.40〕 Philip was later decisively defeated by the Romans at the battle of Cynoscephalae,〔Livy 33.10〕 but Sparta remained in control of Argos. After the war, the Roman army did not withdraw from Greece, but instead sent garrisons to various strategic locations across Greece to secure its interests.〔Livy 33.31〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「War against Nabis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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