After the thunderstorm, the sky was bright, and the open barrels were brimming with rainwater. What type of phrase is the underlined phrase?

a gerund phrase
an infinitive phrase
a participial phrase
a prepositional phrase

umm we do not your answer or what you are talking about

stating you point whats is aking you to write about?

the answer is:

to persuade readers that a conquering prince must destroy a former republic if he hopes to hold it.

in the excerpt from "the prince," the author niccolò machiavelli suggests that to take possession of a city and endure the control over it, it is necessary to destroy it first. otherwise, people who have known freedom will eventually turn against the new rulers and fight back to recover their power.