Anatolia is considered one of the most diverse areas of settled Greek communities by topography, climate or history, as a place where multiple language and ethnic groups moved around, being influenced by and influencing each other. Many Greek poleis in Anatolia continued to flourish and prosper in the Hellenistic period. Some of them had to come to terms with a new position of subordination to a king, but the majority of them had been familiar with such rule before. Awareness of citizenship can be seen as a formal symbol of autonomy and independence. The individual character of the ruler or city-state representative appeared in a prominent place, standing, in iconography, between the divine and human sphere. Numerous Anatolian poleis awarded euergetai during their lifetime and legitimized declining state power in this manner. There are also signs of social transformations, if gradual ones. The huge increase in numbers of inscriptions is one of most striking features of the surviving epigraphic evidence. Written sources indicate that honors as well as memorials for citizens emphasized city-state autonomy, too. A similar tendency is traceable by a process traditionally defined as private hero cult, related to the religious life as much as to the political statements and social classification.
