Lehal Library

How to govern cities and states that were previously self-governing When the states you invade have been accustomed to gov- erning themselves without a monarch and living in freedom under their own laws, then there are three ways of holding on to them: the first is to reduce them to rubble; the second is to go and live there yourself; the third is to let them go on living under their own laws, make them pay you a tax and install a government of just a few local people to keep the state as a whole friendly. Since this government has been set up by the invading ruler, its members know they can’t survive without his support and will do everything they can to defend his authority. Once you’ve decided not to destroy it, the best way to hold a previously self-governing city is with the help of its own citizens. Let’s take our examples from Sparta and Rome. The Spartans held Athens and Thebes by setting up governments run by a few local people, but in the end they lost these towns. The Romans razed Capua, Carthage and Numantia to the ground and that way held on to them. They tried to hold Greece in much the same way the Spartans had, granting it self- government and leaving it its own laws, but it didn’t work and eventually they were forced to destroy quite a number of cities so as to keep hold of the region as a whole. The truth is that the only sure way to hold such places is to destroy them. If you conquer a city accustomed to self- government and opt not to destroy it you can expect it to