Why does Machiavelli mention Pisa at the end of the passage?
And he who becomes master of a city accustomed to
freedom and does not destroy it, may expect to be
destroyed by it, for in rebellion it has always the
watchword of liberty and its ancient privileges as a
rallying point, which neither time nor benefits will ever
cause it to forget. And whatever you may do or provide
against they never forget that name or their privileges
unless they are disunited or dispersed, but at every
chance they immediately rally to them, as Pisa after the
hundred years she had been held in bondage by the
Florentines.
-The Prince,
Niccolò Machiavelli
O to acknowledge that liberty will always triumph in
the end
O to demonstrate that Pisa was patient in waiting to
rebel
O to prove that cities that are not destroyed will
eventually rebel
O to show that Florence successfully held Pisa for a
hundred years