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This paper contrasts Monarchia by Dante Alighieri with Il Principe by Niccolo Machiavelli. It is argued that the Principe not only incorporates the realities of politics but is also superior to the Monarchia as a scientific work because it avoids the latter’s commitment to scholastic philosophy and has greater empirical relevance and logical consistency. Moreover, it can serve to some extent as a role model for an approach to a positive analysis of politics even today.