Dio 52.6.4 (cy)

As for the voluntary contributions, no citizen would feel free to make one, any more than he would readily admit that he was rich, and it is not to the advantage of the ruler that he should, for immediately he would acquire a reputation for patriotism among the masses, become conceited, and incite a rebellion. On the other hand, a general levy weighs heavily upon the masses, the more so because they suffer the loss while the others reap the gain.

Plut. Dion 1.48.1 (prr)

After using such arguments as these, Dion set Heracleides and Theodotes free. Then turning his attention to the siege-wall, he bade each one of the Syracusans to cut a stake and lay it down near the works, and setting his mercenaries to the task all night, while the Syracusans were resting, he succeeded in fencing off the acropolis, so that when day came the citizens and the enemy alike were amazed to see with what speed the work had been accomplished.

Suet. Dom. 11.3 (r)

Then appalled at the cruelty of the penalty, he interposed a veto, to lessen the odium, in these words (for it will be of interest to know his exact language): “Allow me, Fathers of the senate, to prevail on you by your love for me to grant a favour which I know I shall obtain with difficulty, namely that you allow the condemned free choice of the manner of their death; for thus you will spare your own eyes and all men will know that I was present at the meeting of the senate.”

Sal. Jug. 31.9 (r)

In former years you were silently indignant that the treasury was pillaged, that kings and free peoples paid tribute to a few nobles, that those nobles possessed supreme glory and vast wealth. Yet they were not satisfied with having committed with impunity these great crimes, and so at last the laws, your sovereignty, and all things human and divine have been delivered to your enemies.

Plut. Comp. Lyc. Num. 1.2.4 (prr)

For freemen were not even permitted to transact business, that they might be entirely and forever free, but the whole apparatus of business was turned over to slaves and Helots, just like the preparation and serving of their meals. Numa, on the contrary, made no such distinctions, but, while he put a stop to military rapacity, he prohibited no other gainful occupation. Nor did he reduce the great inequalities resulting therefrom,

Plut. Comp. Per. Fab. 1.1.1 (prr)

Such is the story of these men’s lives, and since both left behind them many examples of civil as well as military excellence, let us consider, in the first place, the matter of their military achievements. Pericles was at the head of his people when its prosperity was greatest, when its own strength was at the full, and its imperial power culminating. Apparently, therefore, it was the general good fortune and vigour that kept him free from stumbling and falling,

J. AJ 12.4 (wst)

He also seized upon Jerusalem, and for that end made use of deceit and treachery; for as he came into the city on a Sabbath day, as if he would offer sacrifices he, without any trouble, gained the city, while the Jews did not oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy; and he gained it thus, because they were free from suspicion of him, and because on that day they were at rest and quietness; and when he had gained it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner.

Plut. Marc. 1.19.2 (prr)

For among his officers there was not a man who had the courage to oppose the soldiers’ demand for a harvest of plunder, nay, many of them actually urged that the city should be burned and razed to the ground. This proposal, however, Marcellus would not tolerate at all, but much against his will, and under compulsion, he permitted booty to be made of property and slaves, although he forbade his men to lay hands on the free citizens, and strictly ordered them neither to kill nor outrage nor enslave any Syracusan.

Dio 56.40.2 (cy)

He it was who undertook as his own task to guard and preserve the provinces that were troublesome and at war, restoring to you such as were peaceful and free from danger; and though he supported so vast a number of soldiers as a permanent force to fight in your behalf, he permitted them to annoy no Roman citizen, but made them most formidable protectors against alien races while being to the people at home unarmed and unwarlike.

Plut. Arat. 1.29.4 (prr)

The pursuit continued as far as Mycenae, where the tyrant was overtaken and slain by a certain Cretan named Tragiscus, as Deinias relates; and besides him there fell over fifteen hundred. But although Aratus had won so brilliant a success, and had lost not a single one of his own soldiers, he nevertheless did not take Argos nor set it free, since Agias and the younger Aristomachus burst into the city with troops of the king and took control of affairs.

Plut. Publ. 1.19.1 (prr)

After these stipulations had been carried out, and when Porsena had already remitted all his warlike preparations through his confidence in the treaty, these Roman maidens went down to the river to bathe, at a place where the curving bank formed a bay and kept the water especially still and free from waves. As they saw no guard near, nor any one else passing by or crossing the stream, they were seized with a desire to swim away, notwithstanding the depth and whirl of the strong current.

Amm. 24.3.5 (y)

“The treasury is empty, the cities are exhausted, the finances are stripped bare. I myself have neither treasures, nor, noble as I am by birth, do I inherit anything from my family but a heart free from all fear. Nor shall I be ashamed to place all my happiness in the cultivation of my mind, while preferring an honourable poverty. For the Fabricii also conducted great wars while poor in estate and rich only in glory.

Hdt. 9.45.1 (mcly)

Having heard this, forthwith they accompanied the men to the guard-posts, and when they had arrived there, Alexander thus spoke to them: "Athenians, I lay up these words of mine as a trust to you, charging you to keep them secret and tell them to no one except only to Pausanias, lest ye bring me to ruin: for I should not utter them if I did not care greatly for the general safety of Hellas, seeing that I am a Hellene myself by original descent and I should not wish to see Hellas enslaved instead of free. I say then that Mardonios and his army cannot get the offerings to be according to their mind,[50] for otherwise ye would long ago have fought. Now however he has resolved to let the offerings alone and to bring on a battle at dawn of day; for, as I conjecture, he fears lest ye should assemble in greater numbers. Therefore prepare yourselves; and if after all Mardonios should put off the battle and not bring it on, stay where ye are and hold out patiently; for they have provisions only for a few days remaining. And if this way shall have its issue according to your mind, then each one of you ought to remember me also concerning liberation,[51] since I have done for the sake of the Hellenes so hazardous a deed by reason of my zeal for you, desiring to show you the design of Mardonios, in order that the Barbarians may not fall upon you when ye are not as yet expecting them: and I am Alexander the Macedonian." Thus having spoken he rode away back to the camp and to his own position.

Plut. Cat. Mi. 1.3.2 (prr)

Now, Cato was in his fourteenth year; and when he saw heads of men reputed to be eminent carried forth, and heard the smothered groans of the bystanders, he asked his tutor why no one slew this man. “Because, my child,” said the tutor, “men fear him more than they hate him.” “Why, then,” said Cato, “didst thou not give me a sword, that I might slay him and set my country free from slavery?”

Dio 47.24.6 (cy)

The reason was that his mother Polla learned of the plot in advance, and fearing for Cassius lest he should be caught off his guard (for she was very fond of him) and for her son lest he should be detected, in person and of her own free will informed Cassius of the plot beforehand, and received the life of her son as a reward. However, she did not succeed in making a better man of him; for he deserted his benefactors to join Caesar and Antony.