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540 SYMPLEGADES SYPHAX positions for instruments only and in the so- nata form. In this sense the word is now generally used. The germ of the modern sym- phony may be found in the suites prefixed by Scarlatti to his operas, which he designated as the symphony, consisting of three movements : 1, allegro; 2, andante; 3, allegro. But it was not till the time of Haydn, called the father of the symphony, that this kind of composition took its present form. He added a fourth movement, the minuetto, and elaborated the whole structure of the symphony. He com- posed 118 works of this kind. The form that Haydn fixed upon was adopted by Mozart and Beethoven, the latterespecially giving a breadth, dignity, and grandeur to his symphonies that have made them the masterpieces of this form of musical art. In the final movement of his ninth or choral symphony he introduced vocal music, an example which has not been followed by later composers. Mendelssohn, Gade, Rei- necke, Liszt, and Raff are among the more modern composers of works of this class. SYMPLEGADES. See ARGONAUTS. SYNAGOGUE (Gr. awayorf, assembly, place of assembly; Heb. beth hzkkeneseth, house of assembly), a building appropriated to worship and the performance of public religious rites in Jewish congregations. Corresponding to the word church in Christian terminology, the term is also applied to the Jewish community in general. The earliest synagogues, estab- lished in the times of Persian and Greek rule in Judea, were also for deliberative purposes. (For the " great synagogue " or assembly see HEBREWS, vol. viii., p. 591.) In subsequent centuries they were also used as seats of popu- lar as well as higher instruction. In modern Jewish communities this is mostly imparted in a separate building, called leth hammidrash, house of study. The synagogue is generally a high building, facing the four cardinal points, and provided with seats and desks on the floor for the male members of the congregation, and with galleries for the females. The east wall, which all must face during the recital of cer- ta.in prayers, encloses the "holy ark" (aron haklcodeah), in which Hebrew copies of the Pentateuch, written on vellum, are deposited ; and opposite it, near the centre, is the platform (bimah) on which the reading from the same is performed by the reciter or cantor (Jiazari), or by a special reader (kore). Sermons or lec- tures are delivered from a smaller platform adjoining the " holy ark," by the rabbi or a special preacher or lecturer. The offices of reciter, reader, and lecturer are often united in the same person. Of late the use of the choir has become frequent, and the internal arrangements of the synagogues have been more and more assimilated to those of Chris- tian churches. SYXESICS, a philosopher of the 5th century, born in Gyrene, Africa, about 379, died at Ptolemais about 430. He was of an ancient Greek family, studied at Alexandria under Hypatia, and at Athens, and on his return to Cyrene devoted himself to literary pursuits. Famine having come upon Cyrene about 307, Synesius was sent to Constantinople to solicit aid, and was successful. After three years' stay in the Byzantine capital, he returned to Cyrene, and soon afterward, under the influ- ence of a Christian wife, renounced paganism. In 410, on the death of the bishop of Ptolemais (now Tolmeta in Barca), Synesius was chosen to the see, although he had not been bap- tized, was married, and held opinions not re- garded in the church as orthodox. He accept- ed the post with reluctance, was baptized, and after seven months of preparation entered upon his episcopal duties. He was a Neo-Platonist before he became a Christian, and during his episcopate explained Christian dogmas in the light of his philosophy, inclined to the preex- istence of the human soul, believed in its im- mortality, held the resurrection to be a myth, and conceived the Trinity as a triple-headed energy displaying the innate nature of the " unity of unities." His works consist of epis- tles, treatises, and hymns. The best complete collection of them is that of Petau, in Greek with a Latin translation, editions of which appeared at Paris in 1612, 1633, and 1640. A new and more critical edition was published byKrabinger (2 vols. 8vo, Berlin, 1851). Many editions of the hymns have been published with translations into various tongues. A French version first appeared in 1581, and new ones in 1836 and 1839. See also Migne's Patrologie grecque, vol. Ixvi. ; and Kolbe, Der Bischof Synesius von Cyrene (Berlin, 1870). SYPHAX, a Numidian prince, born about 250 B. 0., 4ied in 201. In 213 he was king of the Masssesylians, the westernmost tribe of the Numidians, and was at war with Carthage, in which he was encouraged by the Romans. Carthage, however, induced Gala, king of the Massylians, to declare war against him, and Syphax was defeated by Hasdrubal and Gala's son Masinissa. Syphax fled to. Mauritania and collected a new force, but was again defeated by Masinissa. He subsequently regained pos- session of his throne, and Hasdrubal, to pre- vent his yielding to the overtures of Scipio for an alliance, gave him his daughter Sophonisba in marriage. On the death of Gala, Syphax with' Carthaginian aid wrested the throne from Masinissa, and made him a fugitive. When Scipio landed in Africa in 204, Syphax joined the Carthaginians with an army of 50,000 foot and 10,000 horse. He encamped in the vicinity of the Romans, and during the siege of Utica held prolonged negotiations with Scipio; but the latter suddenly fell upon his camp in the night, set fire to its straw huts, and nearly de- stroyed his army. Syphax raised two more armies, but both were defeated, and he was finally made a prisoner and sent to Rome. Ac- cording to Polybius, he appeared in Scipio's triumphal procession; but according to Livy, he died at Tibur a few days before.