Sycurium, a town of Thessaly at the foot of Ossa. Livy, bk. 42, ch. 54.

Syedra, a town of Cilicia.

Syēne, now Assuan, a town of Thebais, on the extremities of Egypt. Juvenal the poet was banished there on pretence of commanding a pretorian cohort stationed in the neighbourhood. It was famous for its quarries of marble. Strabo, bks. 1 & 2.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 9.—Pliny, bk. 36, ch. 8.—Ovid, ex Ponto, bk. 1, poem 5, li. 79; Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 74.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 587; bk. 8, li. 851; bk. 10, li. 234.

Syenesius, a Cilician who, with Labinetus of Babylon, concluded a peace between Alyattes king of Lydia, and Cyaxares king of Media, while both armies were terrified by a sudden eclipse of the sun, B.C. 585. Herodotus, bk. 1, ch. 74.

Syennesis, a satrap of Cilicia, when Cyrus made war against his brother Artaxerxes. He wished to favour both the brothers by sending one of his sons into the army of Cyrus and another to Artaxerxes.

Sylēa, a daughter of Corinthus.

Syleum, a town of Pamphylia.

Syleus, a king of Aulis.

Sylla Lucius Cornelius, a celebrated Roman of a noble family. The poverty of his early years was relieved by the liberality of the courtesan Nicopolis, who left him heir to a large fortune; and with the addition of the immense wealth of his mother-in-law, he soon appeared one of the most opulent of the Romans. He first entered the army under the great Marius, whom he accompanied in Numidia in the capacity of questor. He rendered himself conspicuous in military affairs; and Bocchus, one of the princes of Numidia, delivered Jugurtha into his hands for the Roman consul. The rising fame of Sylla gave umbrage to Marius, who was always jealous of an equal, as well as of a superior; but the ill language which he might use, rather inflamed than extinguished the ambition of Sylla. He left the conqueror of Jugurtha, and carried arms under Catullus. Some time after he obtained the pretorship, and was appointed by the Roman senate to place Ariobarzanes on the throne of Cappadocia, against the views and interest of Mithridates king of Pontus. This he easily effected: one battle left him victorious; and before he quitted the plains of Asia, the Roman pretor had the satisfaction to receive in his camp the ambassadors of the king of Parthia, who wished to make a treaty of alliance with the Romans. Sylla received them with haughtiness, and behaved with such arrogance, that one of them exclaimed, “Surely this man is master of the world, or doomed to be such!” At his return to Rome, he was commissioned to finish the war with the Marsi, and when this was successfully ended, he was rewarded with the consulship, in the 50th year of his age. In this capacity he wished to have the administration of the Mithridatic war; but he found an obstinate adversary in Marius, and he attained the summit of his wishes only when he had entered Rome sword in hand. After he had slaughtered all his enemies, set a price upon the head of Marius, and put to death the tribune Sulpitius, who had continually opposed his views, he marched towards Asia, and disregarded the flames of discord which he left behind him unextinguished. Mithridates was already master of the greatest part of Greece; and Sylla, when he reached the coast of Peloponnesus, was delayed by the siege of Athens, and of the Piræus. His operations were carried on with vigour, and when he found his money fail, he made no scruple to take the riches of the temples of the gods to bribe his soldiers, and render them devoted to his service. His boldness succeeded. The Piræus surrendered; and the conqueror, as if struck with reverence at the beautiful porticoes where the philosophic followers of Socrates and Plato had often disputed, spared the city of Athens, which he had devoted to destruction, and forgave the living for the sake of the dead. Two celebrated battles at Cheronæa and Orchomenos, rendered him master of Greece. He crossed the Hellespont, and attacked Mithridates in the very heart of his kingdom. The artful monarch, who well knew the valour and perseverance of his adversary, made proposals of peace; and Sylla, whose interest at home was then decreasing, did not hesitate to put an end to a war which had rendered him master of so much territory, and which enabled him to return to Rome like a conqueror, and to dispute with his rival the sovereignty of the republic with a victorious army. Muræna was left at the head of the Roman forces in Asia, and Sylla hastened to Italy. In the plains of Campania, he was met by a few of his adherents, whom the success of his rivals had banished from the capital, and he was soon informed, that if he wished to contend with Marius, he must encounter 15 generals, followed by 25 well-disciplined legions. In these critical circumstances he had recourse to artifice, and while he proposed terms of accommodation to his adversaries, he secretly strengthened himself, and saw, with pleasure, his armies daily increase by the revolt of soldiers whom his bribes or promises had corrupted. Pompey, who afterwards merited the surname of Great, embraced his cause, and marched to the camp with three legions. Soon after he appeared in the field with advantage; the confidence of Marius decayed with his power, and Sylla entered Rome like a tyrant and a conqueror. The streets were daily filled with dead bodies, and 7000 citizens, to whom the conqueror had promised pardon, were suddenly massacred in the circus. The senate, at that time assembled in the temple of Bellona, heard the shrieks of their dying countrymen; and when they inquired into the cause of it, Sylla coolly replied, “They are only a few rebels whom I have ordered to be chastised.” If this had been the last and most dismal scene, Rome might have been called happy; but it was only the beginning of her misfortunes. Each succeeding day exhibited a great number of slaughtered bodies, and when one of the senators had the boldness to ask the tyrant when he meant to stop his cruelties, Sylla, with an air of unconcern, answered, that he had not yet determined, but that he would take it into his consideration. The slaughter was continued; a list of such as were proscribed was daily stuck in the public streets, and the slave was rewarded to bring his master’s head, and the son was not ashamed to imbrue his hands in the blood of his father for money. No less than 4700 of the most powerful and opulent were slain, and Sylla wished the Romans to forget his cruelties in aspiring to the title of perpetual dictator. In this capacity he made new laws, abrogated such as were inimical to his views, and changed every regulation where his ambition was obstructed. After he had finished whatever the most absolute sovereign may do from his own will and authority, Sylla abdicated the dictatorial power, and retired to a solitary retreat at Puteoli, where he spent the rest of his days, if not in literary ease and tranquillity, yet far from the noise of arms, in the midst of riot and debauchery. The companions of his retirement were the most base and licentious of the populace, and Sylla took pleasure still to wallow in voluptuousness, though on the verge of life, and covered with infirmities. His intemperance hastened his end, his blood was corrupted, and an imposthume was bred in his bowels. He at last died in the greatest torments of the lousy disease, about 78 years before Christ, in the 60th year of his age; and it has been observed, that, like Marius, on his death-bed, he wished to drown the stings of conscience and remorse by continual intoxication. His funeral was very magnificent; his body was attended by the senate and the vestal virgins, and hymns were sung to celebrate his exploits and to honour his memory. A monument was erected in the field of Mars, on which appeared an inscription written by himself, in which he said, that the good services he had received from his friends, and the injuries of his enemies, had been returned with unexampled usury. The character of Sylla is that of an ambitious, dissimulating, credulous, tyrannical, debauched, and resolute commander. He was revengeful in the highest degree, and the surname of Felix, or the Fortunate, which he assumed, showed that he was more indebted to fortune than to valour for the great fame which he had acquired. But in the midst of all this, who cannot admire the moderation and philosophy of a man, who when absolute master of a republic, which he had procured by his cruelty and avarice, silently abdicates the sovereign power, challenges a critical examination of his administration, and retires to live securely in the midst of thousands whom he has injured and offended? The Romans were pleased and astonished at his abdication; and when the insolence of a young man had been vented against the dictator, he calmly answered, “This usage may perhaps deter another to resign his power to follow my example, if ever he becomes absolute.” Sylla has been commended for the patronage which he gave to the arts and sciences. He brought from Asia the extensive library of Apellicon the Peripatetic philosopher, in which were the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus, and he himself composed 22 books of memoirs concerning himself. Cicero, Against Verres, &c.—Cornelius Nepos, Atticus.—Paterculus, bk. 2, ch. 17, &c.—Livy, bk. 75, &c.—Pausanias, bk. 1, ch. 20.—Florus, bk. 3, ch. 5, &c.; bk. 4, ch. 2, &c.—Valerius Maximus, bk. 12, &c.—Polybius, bk. 5.—Justin, bks. 37 & 38.—Eutropius, bk. 5, ch. 2.—Plutarch, Lives.——A nephew of the dictator, who conspired against his country because he had been deprived of his consulship for bribery.——Another relation, who also joined in the same conspiracy.——A man put to death by Nero at Marseilles, where he had been banished.——A friend of Cato, defeated and killed by one of Cæsar’s lieutenants.——A senator banished from the senate for his prodigality by Tiberius.

Syllis, a nymph, mother of Zeuxippus by Apollo. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 6.

Syloes, a promontory of Africa.

Sylŏson, a man who gave a splendid garment to Darius son of Hystaspes, when a private man. Darius, when raised to the throne of Persia, remembered the gift of Syloson with gratitude. Strabo, bk. 14.

Sylvānus, a god of the woods. See: Silvanus.

Sylvia, or Ilia, the mother of Romulus. See: Rhea.——A daughter of Tyrrhenus, whose favourite stag was wounded by Ascanius. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 7, li. 503.

Sylvius, a son of Æneas by Lavinia, from whom afterwards all the kings of Alba were called Sylvii. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 6, li. 763.

Syma, or Syme, a town of Asia.——A nymph, mother of Chthonius by Neptune. Diodorus, bk. 5.

Symbŏlum, a place of Macedonia, near Philippi, on the confines of Thrace.

Symmăchus, an officer in the army of Agesilaus.——A celebrated orator in the age of Theodosius the Great. His father was prefect of Rome. He wrote against the christians, and 10 books of his letters are extant, which have been refuted by Ambrose and Prudentius. The best editions of Symmachus are that of Geneva, 8vo, 1598, and that of Paris, 4to, 1604.——A writer in the second century. He translated the Bible into Greek, of which few fragments remain.

Symplegădes, or Cyaneæ, two islands or rocks at the entrance of the Euxine sea. See: Cyaneæ.

Symus, a mountain of Armenia, from which the Araxes flows.

Syncellus, one of the Byzantine historians, whose works were edited in folio, Paris, 1652.

Synesius, a bishop of Cyrene in the age of Theodosius the younger, as conspicuous for his learning as his piety. He wrote 155 epistles, besides other treatises, in Greek, in a style pure and elegant, and bordering much upon the poetic. The last edition is in 8vo, Paris, 1605; inferior, however, to the editio princeps by Dionysius Pectavius, folio, Paris, 1613. The best edition of Synesius de febribus is that of Bernard, Amsterdam, 1749.

Synnalaxis, a nymph of Ionia, who had a temple at Heraclea in Elis. Pausanias, bk. 6, ch. 22.

Synnas (adis), or Synnada (plural), a town of Phrygia, famous for its marble quarries. Strabo, bk. 12.—Claudian, Against Eutropius, bk. 2.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 77.—Statius, bk. 1, Sylvæ, poem 5, li. 41.

Synnis, a famous robber of Attica. See: Scinis.

Synōpe, a town on the borders of the Euxine. See: Sinope.

Syphæum, a town of the Brutii in Italy. Livy, bk. 30, ch. 19.

Syphax, a king of the Masæsylii in Libya, who married Sophonisba the daughter of Asdrubal, and forsook the alliance of the Romans to join himself to the interest of his father-in-law, and of Carthage. He was conquered in a battle by Masinissa the ally of Rome, and given to Scipio the Roman general. The conqueror carried him to Rome, where he adorned his triumph. Syphax died in prison 201 years before Christ, and his possessions were given to Masinissa. According to some, the descendants of Syphax reigned for some time over a part of Numidia, and continued to make opposition to the Romans. Livy, bk. 24, &c.—Plutarch, Scipio.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Polybius.—Silius Italicus, bk. 16, lis. 171 & 188.—Ovid, Fasti, bk. 6, li. 769.

Syraces, one of the Sacæ, who mutilated himself, and, by pretending to be a deserter, brought Darius, who made war against his country, into many difficulties. Polyænus, bk. 7.

Syracosia, festivals at Syracuse celebrated during 10 days, in which women were busily employed in offering sacrifices.——Another yearly observed near the lake of Syracuse, where, as they supposed, Pluto had disappeared with Proserpine.

Syracūsæ, a celebrated city of Sicily, founded about 732 years before the christian era by Archias, a Corinthian, and one of the Heraclidæ. In its flourishing state it extended 22½ English miles in circumference, and was divided into four districts, Ortygia, Acradina, Tycha, and Neapolis, to which some add a fifth division, Epipolæ, a district little inhabited. These were of themselves separate cities, and were fortified with three citadels, and three-folded walls. Syracuse had two capacious harbours separated from one another by the island of Ortygia. The greatest harbour was about 5000 paces in circumference, and its entrance 500 paces wide. The people of Syracuse were very opulent and powerful, and though subject to tyrants, they were masters of vast possessions and dependent states. The city of Syracuse was well built, its houses were stately and magnificent; and it has been said, that it produced the best and most excellent of men when they were virtuous, but the most wicked and depraved when addicted to vicious pursuits. The women of Syracuse were not permitted to adorn themselves with gold, or wear costly garments, except such as prostituted themselves. Syracuse gave birth to Theocritis and Archimedes. It was under different governments; and after being freed from the tyranny of Thrasybulus, B.C. 446, it enjoyed security for 61 years, till the usurpation of the Dionysii, who were expelled by Timoleon, B.C. 343. In the age of the elder Dionysius, an army of 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse, and 400 ships, were kept in constant pay. It fell into the hands of the Romans, under the consul Marcellus, after a siege of three years, B.C. 212. Cicero, Against Verres, bk. 4, chs. 52 & 53.—Strabo, bks. 1 & 8.—Cornelius Nepos.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.—Livy, bk. 23, &c.—Plutarch, Marcellus, &c.—Florus, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Silius Italicus, bk. 14, li. 278.

Syria, a large country of Asia, whose boundaries are not accurately ascertained by the ancients. Syria, generally speaking, was bounded on the east by the Euphrates, north by mount Taurus, west by the Mediterranean, and south by Arabia. It was divided into several districts and provinces, among which were Phœnicia, Seleucis, Judæa or Palestine, Mesopotamia, Babylon, and Assyria. It was also called Assyria; and the words Syria and Assyria, though distinguished and defined by some authors, were often used indifferently. Syria was subjected to the monarchs of Persia; but after the death of Alexander the Great, Seleucus, surnamed Nicator, who had received this province as his lot in the division of the Macedonian dominions, raised it into an empire, known in history by the name of the kingdom of Syria or Babylon, B.C. 312. Seleucus died after a reign of 32 years, and his successors, surnamed the Seleucidæ, ascended the throne in the following order: Antiochus, surnamed Soter, 280 B.C.; Antiochus Theos, 261; Seleucus Callinicus, 246; Seleucus Ceraunus, 226; Antiochus the Great, 223; Seleucus Philopator, 187; Antiochus Epiphanes, 175; Antiochus Eupator, 164; Demetrius Soter, 162; Alexander Balas, 150; Demetrius Nicator, 146; Antiochus VI., 144; Diodotus Tryphon, 147; Antiochus Sidetes, 139; Demetrius Nicator restored, 130; Alexander Zebina, 127, who was dethroned by Antiochus Grypus, 123; Antiochus Cyzicenus, 112, who takes part of Syria, which he calls Cœlesyria; Philip and Demetrius Eucerus, 93, and in Cœlesyria, Antiochus Pius; Aretas was king of Cœlesyria, 85; Tigranes, king of Armenia, 83; and Antiochus Asiaticus, 69, who was dethroned by Pompey, B.C. 65; in consequence of which Syria became a Roman province. Herodotus, bks. 2, 3 & 7.—Apollodorus, bk. 1, Argonautica.—Strabo, bks. 12 & 16.—Cornelius Nepos, Datames.—Mela, bk. 1, ch. 2.—Ptolemy, bk. 5, ch. 6.—Curtius, bk. 6.—Dionysius Periegetes.

Syriăcum mare, that part of the Mediterranean sea which is on the coast of Phœnicia and Syria.

Syrinx, a nymph of Arcadia, daughter of the river Ladon. Pan became enamoured of her, and attempted to offer her violence; but Syrinx escaped, and at her own request was changed by the gods into a reed called Syrinx by the Greeks. The god made himself a pipe with the reeds, into which his favourite nymph had been changed. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 1, li. 691.—Martial, bk. 9, ltr. 63.

Syrophœnix, the name of an inhabitant of the maritime coast of Syria. Juvenal, satire 8.

Syros, one of the Cyclades in the Ægean sea, at the east of Delos, about 20 miles in circumference, very fruitful in wine and corn of all sorts. The inhabitants lived to a great old age, because the air was wholesome. Homer, Odyssey, bk. 15, li. 504.—Strabo, bk. 10.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 7.——A town of Caria. Pausanias, bk. 3, ch. 26.

Syrtes, two large sand-banks in the Mediterranean on the coast of Africa, one of which was near Leptis, and the other near Carthage. As they often changed places, and were sometimes very high or very low under the water, they were deemed most dangerous in navigation, and proved fatal to whatever ships touched upon them. From this circumstance, therefore, the word has been used to denote any part of the sea of which the navigation was attended with danger, either from whirlpools or hidden rocks. Mela, bk. 1, ch. 7; bk. 2, ch. 7.—Virgil, Æneid, bk. 4, li. 41.—Lucan, bk. 9, li. 303.—Sallust, Jugurthine War.

Syrus, an island. See: Syros.——A son of Apollo by Sinope the daughter of the Asopus, who gave his name to Syria. Plutarch, Lucullus.——A writer. See: Publius.

Sysigambis, the mother of Darius. See: Sisygambis.

Sysimethres, a Persian satrap, who had two children by his mother, an incestuous commerce tolerated by the laws of Persia. He opposed Alexander with 2000 men, but soon surrendered. He was greatly honoured by the conqueror. Curtius, bk. 8, ch. 4.

Sysinas, the elder son of Datames, who revolted from his father to Artaxerxes.

Sythas, a river of Peloponnesus, flowing through Sicyonia into the bay of Corinth. Pausanias, bk. 2, ch. 7.