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. –The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli Which text structure does Machiavelli use in this passage? Which idea from the text best illustrates this structure? How does this text structure help the author convey his central idea?
