Commentary Purg XVI 47-48

Marco's words make him seem a perfect courtier: worldly, but a lover of the good, and a user of soldier's language (that of bowmanship).  Poletto (DDP Poletto.Purg.XVI.46-49) also points out that his qualities would seem to mirror those of Ulysses -- or at least those that Ulysses lends himself, his 'fervor... to gain experience of the world and learn about man's vices, and his worth' ([Inf XXVI 97-99]).