Machiavelli
The Prince
When
those states which have been acquired are accustomed to live at liberty
under their own laws, there are three ways of holding them. The first is
to despoil them; the second is to go and live there in person; the third
is to allow them to live under their own laws, taking tribute of them, and
creating within the country a government composed of a few who will keep
it friendly to you. Because this government, being created by the prince,
knows that it cannot exist without his friendship and protection, and will
do all it can to keep them. What is more, a city used to liberty can be
more easily held by means of its citizens than in any other way, if you
wish to preserve it. There
is the example of the Spartans and the Romans. The Spartans held Athens
and Thebes by creating within them a government of a few; nevertheless
they lost them. The Romans, in order to hold Capua, Carthage, and Numantia,
ravaged them, but did not lose them. They wanted to hold Greece in almost
the same way as the Spartans held it, leaving it free and under its own
laws, but they did not succeed; so that they were compelled to lay waste
many cities in that province in order to keep it, because in truth there
is no sure method of holding them except by despoiling them. And whoever
becomes the ruler of a free city and does not destroy it, can expect to be
destroyed by it, for it can always find a motive for rebellion in the name
of liberty and of its ancient usages, which are forgotten neither by lapse
of time nor by benefits received; and whatever one does or provides, so
long as the inhabitants are not separated or dispersed, they do not forget
that name and those usages, but appeal to them at once in every emergency,
as did Pisa after so many years held in servitude by the Florentines. But
when cities or provinces have been accustomed to live under a prince, and
the family of that prince is extinguished, being on the one hand used to
obey, and on the other not having their old prince, they cannot unite in
choosing one from among themselves, and they do not know how to live in
freedom, so that they are slower to take arms, and a prince can win them
over with greater facility and establish himself securely. But in
republics there is greater life, greater hatred, and more desire for
vengeance; they do not and cannot cast aside the memory of their ancient
liberty, so that the surest way is either to lay them waste or reside in
them.
Previous to Being Occupied,
Lived Under Their Own Laws