Cos: A Typical Example of Hellenistic Religion?

In 366 BC, various settlements of the island of Cos synoecised to form a single polis. This political reform led to a reorganization of the older cults evidenced by inscriptions from the mid-fourth century BC. Furthermore, abundant epigraphical material informs us on Coan religious life until the first century BC and archaeological excavations have shown intense building activities within sanctuaries during the third and second centuries BC.
This paper will confront the example of Cos with two theoretical models on Greek religion. First, it will test the validity of the “polis religion” model developed by C. Sourvinou-Inwood (1990, 2000) and recently disputed, notably on the grounds that it cannot capture all aspects of religious activity (Kindt 2009, Eidinow 2011). On the other hand, Hellenistic religion has long been viewed as a decline of Classical religion, featuring an “individualization” of religion and an increasing popularity of private and foreign cults. This out-of-date perception is invalidated by the Coan example.
Finally, I will ask myself to what extent the nature of the evidence, mainly composed of decrees issued by the polis, can distort our representation of Coan religious life.