Syracuse (It. Siracusa). Anciently the most famous and powerful city of Sicily, situated on the southeast coast of the island, 80 miles south-southwest from Messina; was founded by a body of Corinthian settlers under Archias, one of the Bacchiadæ, 734 B.C. In 486 a revolution took place and the oligarchic families—Geomori, or Gamori, “land-owners”—were expelled, and the sovereign power was transferred to the citizens at large. Before a year passed, however, Gelon, “despot” of Gela, had restored the exiles, and at the same time made himself master of Syracuse. Hieron, brother of Gelon, raised Syracuse to an unexampled degree of prosperity. Hieron died in 467, and was succeeded by his brother Thrasybulus; but the rapacity and cruelty of the latter soon provoked a revolt among his subjects, which led to his deposition and the establishment of a democratical form of government. The next most important event in the history of Syracuse was the siege of the city by the Athenians, which ended in the total destruction of the great Athenian armament in 413; and Syracuse’s renown at once spread over the whole Greek world. Dionysius restored the “tyranny” of Gelon, and his fierce and victorious war with Carthage (397 B.C.) raised the renown of Syracuse still higher. On the death of Hieron II., his grandson Hieronymus, who succeeded him, espoused the side of the Carthaginians. A Roman army under Marcellus was sent against Syracuse, and after a siege of two years, during which Archimedes assisted his fellow-citizens by the construction of various engines of war, the city was taken by Marcellus in 212. Under the Romans, Syracuse slowly but surely declined. Captured, pillaged, and burned by the Saracens (878) it sunk into complete decay, so that very few traces of its ancient grandeur are now to be seen. It was taken by Count Roger, the Norman, 1088; in the insurrection, Syracuse surrendered to the Neapolitan troops, April 8, 1849.
Syria. At present, forming together with Palestine, a division of Asiatic Turkey; extends between lat. 31° and 37° 20′ N. along the Mediterranean from the Gulf of Iskanderoon to the Isthmus of Suez. The oldest inhabitants of Syria were all of Shemitic descent; the Canaanites, like the Jews themselves, and the Phœnicians (who inhabited the coast-regions) were Shemites. So were also the Aramæans, who occupied Damascus and extended eastward towards the Euphrates. This territory, Syria proper, became subject to the Hebrew monarchy in the time of David; but after Solomon’s death Rezin made himself independent in Damascus, and while the Jewish empire was divided into two kingdoms, the Aramæan kings of Damascus conquered and incorporated the whole northern and central part of the country. In 740 B.C. the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser, conquered Damascus, and in 720 B.C. the kingdom of Israel. In 587 B.C. the kingdom of Judah was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and Syria, with Palestine, was now successively handed over from the Assyrians to the Babylonians, from the Babylonians to the Medes, and from the Medes to the Persians. After the battle of the Issus (333 B.C.) Alexander the Great conquered the country, and with him came the Greeks. After his death they formed here a flourishing empire under the Seleucidæ, who reigned from 312 to 64 B.C. After the victories over Antigonus at Ipsus in 301 B.C., and over Lysimachus at Cyropedion in 282 B.C., the empire of Seleucus I. actually comprised the whole empire of Alexander with the exception of Egypt. But his son, Antiochus I., Soter (281-260), lost Pergamum, and failed in his attempts against the Gauls who invaded Asia Minor, and Antiochus II., Theos (260-247), lost Parthia and Bactria. Antiochus the Great (223-187) conquered Palestine, which by the division of Alexander’s empire had fallen to the Ptolemies of Egypt; but under Antiochus Epiphanes (174-164) the Jews revolted, and after a contest of twenty-five years they made themselves independent. Under Antiochus XIII. (69-64) Pompey conquered the country and made it a Roman province, governed by a Roman proconsul. After the conquest of Jerusalem (70) Palestine was added to this province. By the division of the Roman empire Syria fell to the Eastern or Byzantine part. In 638 the country was conquered by the Saracens. In 654 Damascus was made the capital of Syria, and in 661 of the whole Mohammedan empire. When the Abbassides removed their residence to Bagdad, Syria sank into a mere province. In the 11th century the Seljuk Turks conquered the country. The establishment of the Latin kingdom by the Crusaders in 1099 was of short duration and of little advantage. They held Jerusalem till 1187, Acre till 1291, but they proved more rapacious and more cruel than the Turks. When in 1291 the Mameluke rulers of Egypt finally drove the Christian knights out of the country, its cities were in ruins, its fields devastated, and its population degraded. Still worse things were in waiting,—the invasion of Tamerlane and his successors, which actually transformed large regions into deserts and the inhabitants into savages. In 1517, Sultan Selim I. conquered the country, and since that time it has formed part of the Turkish empire, with the exception of the short period from 1832 to 1841, when Ibrahim Pasha (who defeated the army of the grand seignior at Konieh, December 21, 1832) governed it under the authority of his father, Mehemet Ali (who had captured Acre, and overrun the whole of Syria). The Druses are said to have destroyed 151 Christian villages and killed 1000 persons, May 29 to July 1, 1860. The Mahommedans massacred Christians at Damascus; about 3300 were slain, but many were saved by Abd-el-Kader, July, 1860; the French and English governments intervened; 4000 French soldiers under Gen. Hautpoul landed at Beyrout, August 22, 1860. The French and Turks advanced against Lebanon, and fourteen emirs surrendered, October, 1860. The pacification of the country was effected, November, 1860; and the French occupation ceased June 5, 1861. The insurrection of Joseph Karaman, a Maronite, in Lebanon, was suppressed, March, 1866; another was suppressed, and Karaman fled to Algeria, January 31, 1867.
System. In fortification, is a particular arrangement and mode of constructing the different works surrounding a fortified place. The principal systems now studied are those of Marshal Vauban, and the improved method invented by Cormontaigne, the celebrated French engineer.
System. A scheme which reduces many things to regular dependence or co-operation. This word is frequently applied to some particular mode of drilling and exercising men to fit them for manœuvres and evolutions. Hence, the Prussian system, the Austrian system, etc.
System, Military. Specific rules and regulations for the government of an army in the field or in quarters, etc.
Systems of Artillery. The character and arrangement of the material of artillery, as adopted by a nation at any particular epoch. The American systems of field and siege artillery are chiefly derived from those of France. The principal qualities sought to be observed in establishing a system of artillery are, simplicity, mobility, and power. The first system adopted in France was about the middle of the 16th century, at which time the various guns of the French artillery were reduced to six. The weights of the balls corresponding to these calibers ranging from 331⁄4 to 3⁄4 pounds. This range of calibers was thought to be necessary, for the reason that it required guns of large caliber to destroy resisting objects, while guns of small caliber were necessary to keep up with the movement of troops. Each of the five principal calibers was mounted on a different carriage, and the ammunition, stores, and tools were carried on different store-carts. Three kinds of powder were used, viz.: large-grain, small-grain, and priming, which were carried in barrels of three sizes. The axle-trees, which were of wood, varied for the different wheels, as well as for the different guns. The gun-carriages were without limbers, and had only two wheels, the shafts being attached to the trails, which often dragged along the ground. No spare wheels were used, except for pieces of large caliber; and for facility of transportation these were put on an axle-tree, so as to form a carriage. With the exception of replacing injured wheels, all repairs were made on the spot, from the resources of the country, and no spare articles were carried with the train. There was no established charge of powder for the guns; although a weight equal to that of the shot was generally used. Such was the character of the artillery which accompanied the French armies up to the middle of the 17th century. In the reign of Louis XIV., the calibers of cannon were gradually changed by the introduction of several foreign pieces. There were 48-, 32-, 24-, 16-, 12-, 8-, and 4-pounders; and those of the same caliber varied in weight, length, and shape. Uniformity existed in general in each district commanded by a lieutenant-general of artillery, but the cannon of one district differed from another. Each district had (for the six kinds of cannon) six carriages, with different wheels, and three kinds of limbers, with different wheels, making nine patterns of wheels, without counting those for the platform-wagons used to transport heavy guns, the ammunition-carts, the trucks, and the wagons for small stores and tools. Spare carriages were carried into the field, but those of one district would not fit the guns of another. There was but one kind of powder, and this was carried in barrels. The charge was usually two-thirds the weight of the projectile, roughly measured. Besides this, the powder often varied in strength according to the district from which it came.
Valière’s System.—In 1735, Gen. Valière abolished the 32-pounder, as being heavy and useless, and gave uniformity to the five remaining calibers. Towards the end of the 18th century, mortars, or Dutch howitzers, were sometimes attached to the field-trains; for the latter, a small charge, and caliber of 8 inches, were adopted. There were also light 4-pounder guns attached to each regiment. Up to that time an army always carried with it heavy guns (24-pounders), and light guns (4-pounders), which were combined in the same park. Valière established a system of uniformity for cannon throughout France; but such was not the case with the carriages and wagons used with them. Great exactness was not then sought for, and there existed as many plans for constructing gun-carriages as there were arsenals of construction. The axle-trees were of wood, the limbers were very low, and the horses were attached in single file.
Gribeauval’s System.—In 1765, Gen. Gribeauval founded a new system, by separating the field from the siege artillery. He diminished the charge of field-guns from a half to a third the weight of the shot, but as he diminished the windage of the projectile at the same time, he was enabled to shorten them and render them lighter, without sensibly diminishing their range. Field artillery then consisted of 12-, 8-, and 4-pounder guns, to which was added a 6-inch howitzer, still retaining a small charge, but larger in proportion to that before used. For draught, the horses were disposed in double files, which was much more favorable to rapid gaits. Iron axle-trees, higher limbers, and traveling trunnion-holes rendered the draught easier. The adoption of cartridges, elevating screws, and tangent scales, increased the rapidity and regularity of the fire. Stronger carriages were made for the lighter guns, and the different parts of all were made with more care, and strengthened with ironwork. Uniformity was established in all the new constructions, by compelling all the arsenals to make every part of the carriages, wagons, and limbers according to certain fixed dimensions. By this exact correspondence of all the parts of a carriage, spare parts could be carried into the field ready made, to refit. Thus an equipment was obtained which could be easily repaired, and could be moved with a facility hitherto unknown. In order to reduce the number of spare articles necessary for repairs, Gribeauval gave, as far as practicable, the same dimensions to those things which were of the same nature. The excellence of this system was tested in the wars of the French republic and empire, in which it played an important part. In 1827, the system of Gribeauval was changed by introducing the 24- and 32-pounder howitzers, lengthened to correspond with the 8- and 12-pounder guns, and abolishing the 4-pounder gun and 6-inch howitzer. Afterwards some important improvements were made in the carriages, chiefly copied from the English system; the number for all field-cannon was reduced to two, the wheels of the carriage and limber were made of the same size; the weight of the limber was reduced, and an ammunition-chest placed on it; the method of connecting the carriage and limber was simplified, and the operations of limbering and unlimbering greatly facilitated; and the two flasks which formed the trail were replaced by a single piece called the stock, which arrangement allowed the new pieces to turn in a smaller space than that required by the old ones.
Louis Napoleon’s System.—In 1850, Louis Napoleon, emperor of the French, caused a series of experiments to be made at the principal artillery schools of France to test the merits of a new system of field artillery proposed by himself. The principal idea involved in this system was, to substitute a single gun of medium weight and caliber, capable of firing shot and shells, for the 8- and 12-pounder guns, and 24- and 32-pounder howitzers, then in use. The caliber selected was the 12-pounder. The favorable results of all these experiments, and the simplicity of the system, led to the adoption of this, the Napoleon gun, as it is sometimes called, into the French service; and others of similar principle were introduced into various European services, and also into our own. As this piece unites the properties of gun and howitzer, it is called canon-obusier, or gun-howitzer.
At no time since the discovery of gunpowder have such important improvements been made in fire-arms as within the past few years. These improvements may be summed up as follows, viz.: (1) Improvement in the quality of cast iron, and the consequent increase in the caliber of sea-coast cannon. In 1820, the heaviest gun mounted in the United States on sea-coast batteries was the 24-pounder; at present the heaviest is a 20-inch gun, carrying a shell weighing 1080 pounds. (2) The use of wrought and chilled iron and steel as a material for fortress carriages, and for covering ships of war. (3) The extensive introduction of shells in sea-coast defenses and naval warfare; and spherical case-shot into the field service. (4) The introduction of rifling for both small-arms and cannon. (5) The successful application of the breech-loading principle to cannon and small-arms of every description, and the great improvement made of late in steel, as well as the power to manipulate masses sufficiently large for the construction of the immense cannon now employed in naval warfare and for sea-coast defense.