Map 16 Hellenistic kingdoms in the early third century BC. Map based on A. Erskine (ed.), A Companion
to the Hellenistic World (Malden, MA 2003), Figure 2.1, p. 20.
For the most part, however, life within the cities of mainland Greece continued to be focused on the
affairs of the polis, as it had been previously. This meant not only the administration of the city’s political
affairs but the cults of the polis as well. In Athens, for example, the festivals of the Panathenaea and the
Dionysia, along with several other less important festivals, were celebrated annually. Every polis had its
own cycle of similar religious festivals. These celebrations were conducted, as always, by and in the
name of the polis, because ancient Greek religion was, for the most part, the religion of the polis. In the
Classical Period, the cost of celebrating these festivals was borne by wealthy individual citizens, just as
with many other expenses of the polis. So, for example, in a given year a prosperous Athenian citizen
might be required to subsidize the cost of outfitting and training a chorus in the musical or dramatic
competitions at the Dionysia, or he might defray the expense of maintaining a trireme and its crew for a
year. The performance of a service of this nature to the polis was called a leitourgia, literally “public
service,” the origin of the English word “liturgy.” Performing a liturgy was a financial burden, but it could
have its advantages: The citizen who had performed the liturgy could claim to be, and might be
recognized as, a public benefactor, thus enhancing his personal prestige and status, particularly if the
liturgy was carried out with especial lavishness. During the Hellenistic Period, compulsory liturgies
became less and less common, as the structure of public finance in the polis began to be influenced by the
more centralized model of the monarchy. Individual citizens were still chosen to serve as organizers of
festivals and contests, but the funding was now provided by the polis. Still, following the tradition of the
earlier liturgies, and in imitation of the Macedonian rulers, who liked to advertise their lavish public
benefactions, individual citizens often augmented the state funds with money of their own in order to make
a name for themselves.