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Civic euergetism, that is, the expenditure of private funds on behalf of a political community or groups within it, was established as an object of historical study by Paul Veyne in his 1976 monograph Le pain et le cirque (Bread and Circuses). In its second chapter, this behavior is defined as part of the lifestyle of notables in Greek cities. More recently, a transactional theory of benefaction in Greek civic worlds has emphasized the people’s ability to demand such compensation from the elites in order to legitimize their power and wealth. However, many sources and studies reveal dissonances with historiographical models that revolve around a term whose anachronistic and euphemistic character complicates interpretation of these phenomena. Focusing on Greek cities under Roman rule, this article examines the ambiguities of public discourse celebrating the benefactions of elites, reconsidering them in light of actual practices and their perception by the various stakeholders of civic bodies. The analysis of elite public expenditure challenges a rational model based on legitimation and reconsiders the configuration of local power identified by Veyne. Beyond the political and discursive interaction between the people and the rulers of the cities, this article seeks to highlight the political, financial, and social dynamics that benefited certain subgroups of notables within civic communities.