a great pitch of renown after its struggle with the Carthaginians in 397 B.C., but siding with Hannibal in the Punic Wars, was taken after a two years’ siege by the Romans (212 B.C.), in whose hands it slowly declined, and finally was sacked and destroyed by the Saracens in 878 A.D.  Only the portion on Ortygia was rebuilt, and this constitutes the modern city, which has interesting relics of its former greatness, but is otherwise a crowded and dirty place, surrounded by walls, and fortified; exports fruit, olive-oil, and wine. 2, A city (108) of New York State, United States, 148 m.  W. of Albany, in the beautiful valley of Onondaga; is a spacious and handsomely laid-out city, with university, &c.; has flourishing steel-works, foundries, rolling-mills, &c., and enormous salt manufactures.

SYRIA (2,000), one of three divisions of Asiatic Turkey, slightly larger than Italy, forms a long strip of mountains and tableland intersected by fertile valleys, lying along the eastern end of the Mediterranean from the Taurus range in the N. to the Egyptian border on the 8., and extending to the Euphrates and Arabian desert The coastal strip and waters fall within the LEVANT (q. v.).  In the S. lies Palestine, embracing Jordan, Dead Sea, Lake of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), Jerusalem, Gaza, &c.; in the N., between the parallel ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, lies the valley of Coele-Syria, through which flows the Orontes.  Important towns are Aleppo, Damascus, Beyrout (chief port), &c.; principal exports are silk, wool, olive-oil, and fruits.  Four-fifths of the people are Mohammedans of Aramaean (ancient Syrian) and Arabic stock.  Once a portion of the ASSYRIAN EMPIRE (q. v.), it became a possession successively of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Egyptians, and finally fell into the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1516, under whose rule it now languishes.  For further particulars see various names and places mentioned.

SYRIANUS, a Greek Neoplatonic philosopher of the 5th century; had PROCLUS (q. v.) for a disciple; left a valuable commentary on the metaphysics of Aristotle.

SYRINX, an Arcadian nymph, who, being pursued by Pan, fled into a river, was metamorphosed into a reed, of which Pan made his flute.

SYRTIS, MAJOR AND MINOR, the ancient names of the Gulfs of Sidra and Cabes on the N. coast of Africa, the former between Tripoli and Barca, the latter between Tunis and Tripoli.

SYRUS, PUBLIUS, a slave brought to Rome, and on account of his wit manumitted by his master; made his mark by composing memoirs and a collection of pithy sayings that appear to have been used as a school-book; flourished in 45 B.C.

SYSTEME DE LA NATURE, a book, the authorship of which is ascribed to BARON HOLBACH (q. v.), which appeared in 1770, advocating a philosophical materialism and maintaining that nothing exists but matter, and that mind is either naught or only a finer kind of matter; there is nowhere anything, it insists, except matter and motion; it is the farthest step yet taken in the direction of speculative as opposed to political nihilism.