Introduction. Benefactors and the polis: a long-term perspective Marc Domingo Gygax and Arjan Zuiderhoek; Part I. Benefiting the Community in Early Greece: 1. Heroic benefactors? The limits of generosity in Homer Hans van Wees; 2. The garden of Pisistratus: benefits and dues in archaic Athens Beate Wagner-Hasel; Part II. Classical Benefactors: 3. Classical Athens and the invention of civic euergetism Marc Domingo Gygax; 4. The scale of benefaction Robin Osborne; Part III. Hellenistic Benefactors: 5. The politics of endowments Sitta von Reden; 6. 'To be magnanimous and grateful': the entanglement of cities and empires in the Hellenistic Aegean Rolf Strootman; 7. Socially embedded benefaction on Delos John Tully; Part IV. Benefactors and the Polis under Rome: 8. Emperors, benefaction and honorific practice in the Roman imperial Greek polis Carlos Noreña; 9. Benefactors and the poleis in the Roman Empire: civic munificence in the Roman East in the context of the longue durée Arjan Zuiderhoek; 10. Festivals and benefactors Onno van Nijf; Part V. The Decline and Fall of Euergetism?: 11. Bishops and the politics of lithomania in early Byzantium Daniel Caner; 12. Euergetism, Christianity and municipal culture in Late Antiquity, from Aquileia to Gerasa (fourth-sixth centuries CE) Christophe Goddard; Conclusion Marc Domingo Gygax and Arjan Zuiderhoek; Index.