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. How does the text structure help the author convey his central idea in this chapter? By describing the actions taken by the Spartans and the Romans, Machiavelli sets up a comparison with the actions of other conquering forces discussed in the chapter. By contrasting the outcomes of Spartan and Roman conquests, Machiavelli provides evidence to support his claim that a prince must destroy a free city in order to hold it. By contrasting the goals of the Spartans and the Romans, Machiavelli establishes the problem of maintaining control of a conquered city, to which he will propose a solution. By listing the effects of these Spartan and Roman conquests, Machiavelli supports his overall description of how princes do or do not maintain control over the cities they conquer.