Question

There are, for example, the Spartans and the Romans.

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, 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. And whatever
you may do or provide against, they never forget that
name or their privileges unless they are disunited or
dispersed, but at every chance they immediately rally to them, as Pisa after the hundred years she had been held in bondage by the Florentines
What is Machiavelli's primary purpose in writing this
passage?
O to inform readers about the history of Rome and
Sparta and how they built their empires
to inform readers about the fates of the cities
conquered by the Spartans and the Romans
O to persuade readers that a conquering prince must
destroy a former republic if he hopes to hold it
O to persuade readers that a republic will remember
freedom and someday rebel against a conqueror

Answer 1

O to inform readers about the history of Rome and

Sparta and how they built their empires

Step-by-step explanation:

This article is about Spartans and how they conquered Rome, the first one. A little fact: Sparta's military dominance ended with its defeat at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. The city-state continued to decline in power over the next few centuries, culminating in its incorporation into the Roman Empire in 146 BC.