Question

The Spartans held Athens and Thebes, establishing there an oligarchy: nevertheless they lost them. The Romans, in order to hold Capua, Carthage, and Numantia, dismantled them, and did not lose them. They wished to hold Greece as the Spartans held it, making it free and permitting its laws, and did not succeed. 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. And he who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed by it.
–The Prince,
Niccolò Machiavelli

Which detail best supports the idea that princes who do not destroy or occupy their principalities will not keep them?

“The Spartans held Athens and Thebes, establishing there an oligarchy.”
“The Romans, in order to hold Capua, Carthage, and Numantia, dismantled them.”
“They wished to hold Greece as the Spartans held it, making it free and permitting its laws.”
“He who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed by it.”

Answer 1

“The Romans, in order to hold Capua, Carthage, and Numantia, dismantled them.”

Explanation:

Niccolò Machiavelli uses the well documented example of Roman expansion over various principalities to argue that anyone who conquers a place must destroy its existing political institutions otherwise they will not be able to control it.

This pragmatic idea is supported by the juxtaposition between the Greeks who were unsuccessful and the ruthless Romans who were.

However, this  statement is persuasive but not entirely true as Rome also allowed considerable cultural freedom to its principalities and did not simply destroy them.

Answer 2

Answer:

“He who becomes master of a city accustomed to freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be destroyed by it” is the correct answer.

Explanation:

Niccolò Machiavelli was a diplomat, philosopher, and writer. He was born during the Italian Renaissance and he wrote what is believed one of the most important treatise about politics, entitled The Prince. In this case, the speaker wants to emphasize the importance of destroying or occupying the new principalities; we can see how important it is with the statement expressed in option D, so it is correct because it remarks that those principalities should forget freedom.