420 Second Sophistic were decisively defeated by the Egyptians, resulting in large numbers of both dead and captured, which ends the story of the Sea Peoples In the Egyptian inscriptions and reliefs the Sea Peoples are depicted with unique features and costumes reflecting the diverse cultures now included in the blanket term Sea People However, the ships associated with the invasion are all of a kind, with prows and sterns shaped into the form of a stylized bird’s head Square sails provide the propulsion, and there is a crow’s nest for observation The vessels resemble ships of the early Phoenician trading variety, save that no oars are represented The warriors wear various styles of short kilts, neckbands, and some form of breast covering Headdresses are of two major kinds: horned helmets and feathered, flanged “top hats.” Spears, swords, and shields are the standard weapons displayed In the Egyptian depiction the Sea Peoples are both chaotic in their attack before the orderly Egyptian archers and defeated and captured even as they fight; these depictions are a form of Egyptian propaganda At the conclusion of Ramses III’s defeat of the Sea Peoples, the Peleset and their allies were driven from Egypt proper into the Mediterranean coastal area northeast of the Egyptian border where they were thenceforth known as Philistines Their warrior culture settled down to a sedentary life around five central cities: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza After expanding their territorial control westward to the hill country, the Philistines took up agriculture, modest manufacturing, metallurgy, and trade, for which their location was ideal Egypt to the south, the Phoenician cities to the north, and the Mediterranean to the west allowed them to become the market center for the state of Judah to their east The cities remained autonomous and independent until the reign of the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III, who invaded Philistia in 734 b.c.e and subjugated the region The end of the Philistines is generally accepted to come with the disappearance of the region in 604 b.c.e into Nebuchadnezzar II’s Neo-Babylonian Empire Archaeological excavations at Philistine sites confirm material and religious connections to the Aegean and to Cyprus Pottery resembling Mycenaean ware continued to be manufactured along with the distinctive Philistine “beer mugs” even as pottery construction adapted from the indigenous population was produced Evidence of trade or migration related to Anatolia and Syria also appears at the sites By the time of the incorporation of the Philistine cities into the Neo-Babylonian Empire the culture had been assimilated into regional traditions See also Assyria; Babylon, later periods; Egypt, culture and religion; Israel and Judah; pharaoh Further reading: Oren, Eliezer D., ed The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment University Monograph 108; University Symposium Series 11 Philadelphia: University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 2000; Sanders, N K The Sea Peoples: Warriors of the Ancient Mediterranean London: Thames and Hudson, 1985 Lowell Handy Second Sophistic The philosophical school of sophism, which first flourished in fifth-century b.c.e Athens, underwent a revival in the second century c.e., and for a brief period it attained a measure of intellectual fashionableness Although the political center of the Western world moved from Greece to Rome, the new capital did not feel the need to enforce its status as the center of the intellectual world Instead, many Romans were happy to accept the importation of new ideas and religious systems, from whichever part of their burgeoning empire they should arise Within this generally liberal atmosphere, Greek and especially Athenian systems of thought held a special place Greek was likely to be the language of intellectual discussion among the educated urban elite, and familiarity with the works of the past was an essential part of refinement and statesmanship A revival in interest in Greek learning was ushered in by the emperor Hadrian in the second century c.e., and this inspired the growth of a set of professional teachers who came to be labeled Sophist and to be members of the Atticist school—that is, to be from Attica, or Athens Unlike the original Sophists, the later teachers focused entirely on the techniques of rhetoric and ability to argue so as to win an argument Their methods had no ethical or truth-seeking element and were, therefore, susceptible to the criticism of sophism that it was amoral and improper for a person of good faith to use Those whose writings have been preserved and who have been associated with this movement include the historians Dio Cassius and Herodian, Maximus, Aelius Aristides, and Polemon of Athens Polemon managed a successful school of rhetoric at Smyrna and was highly regarded by the emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius According to legend, Polemon had himself buried alive at the age of 56 to escape the misery of chronic gout Since most extant works of this group are