Hellenistic (500-146 B.C.E.) refers to the expansion of Greek culture throughout the Ancient Near East. The "god" figure at the top is neither an omnipotent god of the Near East nor a Greek god. Here, the gods are represented by mystery religions; one one side, Mithra is slaying the bull--the drawing here based on a Roman sculpture. On the other side is astrology, the entire image suggesting a plurality of (and competition between) religions. The king is flanked by government officials and a professional army, both equally powerful, as they are located on the same plane with with the Hellenistic King. Goods arrive via ship and merchant caravan from Egypt and the Near East (represented by pyramid and massaba). The gentlemen in the center enjoys the fruits of this trade, even as he reclines aloof from either political or religious affairs. He is drawn as a large figure, which represents the economic inequalities of the Hellenistic age; a few became rich, the rest much poorer (note how slaves "support" the entire system). In the center of the diagram, the hexagonal symbol has been shattered. As noted in the illustration "Evolution of Greek Society," Petheo used this in other diagrams to represent a small, self-governing political unit; in the Greek case, it referred specifically to the polis. In being so shattered, this is meant to suggest that the polis of classical Greek culture is no more, This large, broken polis is a representation of the large urban concentrations of the Hellenistic period. These are, in turn, dependent upon smaller cities and these by villages.