Who was the group that defeated the Syrians?

Answer 1

It depends entirely on the time period in question. Numerous foreign groups have overrun Syria, such as the following in order:

• Neo-Assyrian Empire
• Neo-Babylonian Empire
• Achaemenid Persian Empire
• Macedonian Empire of Alexander the great
• Seleucid Hellenic Empire
• Roman Empire
• Byzantine Empire
• Sassanid Persian Empire
• Rightly-Guided Islamic Caliphate
• Umayyad Islamic Caliphate
• Abbassid Islamic Caliphate
• Fatimid Islamic Caliphate
• Seljuk Sultanate
• Principality of Antioch and Other Crusader States
• Ayyubid Islamic Caliphate
• Ilkhanate
  
• Mamluk Sultanate
• Ottoman Sultanate
• French Empire

Answer 2

Which Syrians at which point in time?

It could be any of the following (in chronological order) where the name after the "vs." included Syrian forces:

Phoenicians vs. the Arameans

Israelites (of the North Kingdom) vs. the Arameans

Hittites vs. the Phoenicians and Arameans

Assyrians vs. the Arameans et al.

Egyptians vs. the Assyrians

Babylonians vs. the Assyrians

Persians vs. the Babylonians

Macedonian Greeks vs. the Persians

Jewish Zealots vs. the Syrian Greeks (who inherited it from the Macedonian Greeks)

Jewish Kingdom vs. the Romans

Arab Moslems vs. the Byzantines (who inherited it from the Romans)

Mamluks vs. the Arabs

Mongols vs. the Mamluks

Seljuks vs. the Mamluks

Ottomans vs. the Seljuks

French vs. the Ottomans

French vs. the Syrians

Israel vs. the Syrians

Answer 3

Maccabees