Caratacus was a British chieftan who resisted the Roman conquest of Britain in 50AD-ish for almost a decade. After his defeat while leading Celtic tribes, the Silures and Ordovices, against the invasion, he fled north where he was captured and given to the Romans as a prisoner.
He was pardoned, and allowed to live in peace following this speech at his tribunal, in which claimed that it was his resistance which gave the Roman victory its glory:
"Had my moderation in prosperity been equal to my noble birth and fortune, I should have entered this city as your friend rather than as your captive; and you would not have disdained to receive, under a treaty of peace, a king descended from illustrious ancestors and ruling many nations. My present lot is as glorious to you as it is degrading to myself. I had men and horses, arms and wealth. What wonder if I parted with them reluctantly? If you Romans choose to lord it over the world, does it follow that the world is to accept slavery? Were I to have been at once delivered up as a prisoner, neither my fall nor your triumph would have become famous. My punishment would be followed by oblivion, whereas, if you save my life, I shall be an everlasting memorial of your clemency."
Upon being freed and witnessing Rome for the first time, he remarked:
"And can you, then, who have got such possessions and so many of them, covet our poor tents?