and he who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed by it, for in rebellion it has always the watchword of liberty and its ancient privileges as a rallying point, which neither time nor benefits will ever cause it to forget. so to hold it they were compelled to dismantle many cities in the country, for in truth there is no safe way to retain them otherwise than by ruining them. they wished to hold greece as the spartans held it, making it free and permitting its laws, and did not succeed. the romans, in order to hold capua, carthage, and numantia, dismantled them, and did not lose them. the spartans held athens and thebes, establishing there an oligarchy: nevertheless they lost them. there are, for example, the spartans and the romans.
Read this paragraph from chapter 5 of the prince.
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