 This article therefore begins by surveying political practices and the reflective accounts to which they gave rise in the classical Greek period of the independent polis. It then turns to the thinkers who invented “political philosophy” par excellence: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. It continues to Hellenistic Greek thinkers before considering the main currents and roles of political philosophy in the Roman republic. While offering a survey of certain developments in the Roman empire, it leaves aside the distinctive contributions made by Jewish and Christian thinkers in that period, and in particular the great upheaval of thought effected by Augustine, who was deeply engaged with classical authors such as Plato and Cicero, but who is one starting point for  medieval political philosophy.  The article concludes with some reflections on how the nature of “ancient political philosophy” should, and should not, be understood.