Read this sentence from the main text: it's hard to appreciate what is essentially slime, but we have mucus for some very good reasons. what purpose does the word slime serve in this sentence?

the answer has something to do with a snail or something but im not sure because i dont know the options that are available

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.