What is an ante?
The ante is a mandatory bet that all players must put in the pot before the poker hand begins. The ante in our ring games is the number in the brackets () at the end of the stakes [Ex: 2/4 (1)]. 
What is the purpose of an ante?
The purpose of the ante is to encourage more action in the hands and discourage players from frequently folding pre-flop.
Example: 
In a 2/4 (1) ring game as shown below, the small blind is 2, big blind is 4, and the ante is 1. ALL players will pay the ante before the hand begins. Small blind and big blind will pay the ante on top of their forced bets. Therefore, after the 2 Chips for the ante and both blinds are put in, the pot total pre-flop is 8 Chips.