This volume is the first general and comprehensive treatment of the political thought of ancient Greece and Rome ever to be published in English. It covers Plato and Aristotle at length, but also a host of other major and minor thinkers, from Thucydides and the Greek dramatists to Cicero and early Christian writers. It attempts both historical and philosophical assessment of the writers discussed and quotes them generously in translation. It will take its place as a standard work essential for scholars and students of classics, history, philosophy and theology.