Read "Xenophon: Hiero or Tyrannicus" by Leo Strauss online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Simonides took him up and said, "Well, Hiero, I do not wonder that you are for the moment out of heart with tyranny; since, desiring to be loved by human beings, you believe that tyranny is an obstacle in the way of your attaining this. However, I think myself able to teach you that ruling does not at all prevent your being loved, and that it even has the advantage of private life in this respect.
While examining whether this is of itself the case, let us not yet inquire whether because of his greater power the ruler also would be able to grant more favors; but rather, if the private man and the tyrant do similar things, consider which of the two wins more gratitude by means of equal favors. I will begin with the smallest examples.