Ulysses now the snowy steeds detains, And leads them, fasten'd by the silver reins; These, with his bow unbent, he lash'd along; (The scourge forgot, on Rhesus' chariot hung;) Then gave his friend the signal to retire; But him, new dangers, new achievements fire; Doubtful he stood, or with his reeking blade To send more heroes to the infernal shade, Drag off the car where Rhesus' armour lay, Or heave with manly force, and lift away.
— from The Iliad by Homer

There are frequently small portions of land detached from the edges of lakes, by floods or rapid currents, held together and rendered buoyant by a mass of roots and vegetable matter.
— from The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6) by the Elder Pliny

These acquisitions were confirmed by a treaty of peace with the emperor Alexius: his fear of Robert compelled him to seek the friendship of Soliman; and it was not till after the sultan's death that he extended as far as Nicomedia, about sixty miles from Constantinople, the eastern boundary of the Roman world.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

Jesus, convinced of the folly of resistance, commanded him to put up his sword, set in order the ear of Malchus, (who escaped at the expense of being frightened,) and then surrendered himself.
— from Ecce Homo! Or, A Critical Inquiry into the History of Jesus of Nazareth Being a Rational Analysis of the Gospels by Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'

Our second visit to Arbe was made from Zara, which we left in rather stormy weather, the waves outside the harbour flashing with little white caps, while flaws of rain constantly hid the island of Ugljan on the other side of the channel.
— from The Shores of the Adriatic The Austrian Side, The Küstenlande, Istria, and Dalmatia by F. Hamilton (Frederick Hamilton) Jackson

At the sight of this immense gallery, magnificent even to those who are familiar with magnificence, José stood struck with astonishment, while an involuntary feeling of respect caused him to take off his hat.
— from Popular Tales by Madame (Elisabeth Charlotte Pauline) Guizot

He wore neither stockings nor cravat of any kind, but had a pair of strong clouted brogues upon his feet; thus disclosing to the spectator two legs and a breast that were covered over with a fell of red close hair that might have been long and strong enough for a badger.
— from The Emigrants Of Ahadarra The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two by William Carleton