  We obtain the symplectic group as an amalgam of low rank subgroups akin to
Levi components. We do this by having the group act flag-transitively on a new
type of geometry and applying Tits' lemma. This provides a new way of
recognizing the symplectic groups from a small collection of small subgroups.
The geometry consists of all subspaces of maximal rank in a vector space of
maximal rank with respect to a symplectic form. The main result holds for
fields of size at least 3. We analyze the geometry over the field of size 2 and
describe its simply connected cover if different from the geometry.
