Were the oldest Buddhists evangelical? Between the time of the historical Buddha and state support by emperor Ashoka, were Buddhist monks evangelical?

In other words, did Buddhism spread through enthusiastic recruitment by the sangha, or did it spread more due to state support or something else?

Background
This personally occurred to me after living a life as a crypto-Buddhist. There were not many Buddhists around me and no one knew I was a Buddhist. This is despite nominally believing in the Bodhisattva vow, which to my ears, sounds rather evangelical.

I'm trying this question out on Stack Exchange to see if it fares better than it did on a forum, where pretty much people only could agree that they really didn't like Christians knocking at the door and that just about any form of promoting the Dharma to someone not already inclined towards Buddhism (or possibly already a self identifying Buddhist) was a grave violation of respect for autonomy, i.e. forcing one's religion on someone else. And that sentiment sounds like the value system of contemporary ex-Christians in the US more than whatever the earliest Buddhists might have thought.
"Go forth, o bhikkhus, for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, for the good, for the happiness of gods and men. Let not two go by one way. Preach the doctrine that is beautiful in its beginning, beautiful in its middle, and beautiful in its ending. Declare the holy life in its purity, completely both in the spirit and the letter." ~ Mahavagga, Vinaya Pitaka."

I'd imagine it spread much the same way as other religions. In many cultural centers of the ancient world you would have places where multiple beliefs congregated to talk to those who walked by about their faith.  

Imagine going to the mall today and in center court you had a Christian,  Hindu, Buddhist,  Jewish, Muslim, and taoist all speaking of their doctrines?  

You get a glimpse in the Kalama sutta of the time of the Buddha being one where teachers and traditions were numerous and they wandered about teaching their doctrines. 

"As they sat there, the Kalamas of Kesaputta said to the Blessed One, "Lord, there are some brahmans &amp; contemplatives who come to Kesaputta. They expound &amp; glorify their own doctrines, but as for the doctrines of others, they deprecate them, revile them, show contempt for them, &amp; disparage them. And then other brahmans &amp; contemplatives come to Kesaputta. They expound &amp; glorify their own doctrines, but as for the doctrines of others, they deprecate them, revile them, show contempt for them, &amp; disparage them. They leave us absolutely uncertain &amp; in doubt: Which of these venerable brahmans &amp; contemplatives are speaking the truth, and which ones are lying?"

So it is obvious that Buddhism was spread much the same way as other traditions in ancient times.  What makes Buddhism mostly different is that there are almost no examples of buddhism involving forced conversation. 

There is no doubt that king Asoka did for Buddhism what King Constantine did for Christianity hundreds of years later.  Once it became a religion of the dominant Kingdom its spread was assured as it went from one of many doctrines to the official state doctrine.

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