Through the eighteenth Canto of Inferno, Dante has experienced a long and treacherous journey. He has reached Malebolge, the eighth circle of Hell. He has trudged his way through fiery swamps and burning mud, through rivers of fire and seven circles of deafening sounds of pain. Despite how miserable this sounds, Dante is in fact in a better position than when he begun.
At the beginning of the poem, as you should recall at this point, Dante was hopelessly lost in a dark wood before Virgil came his way. Though geographically, Virgil leads Dante to a worse place, the progress Dante is making is toward an ideal place (positionally and geographically). Without the arrival of Virgil, Dante would never arrive at Paradiso.
Dante, by walking the path of the unrepentant dead, is able to not only visualise a life apart from God's offered and abundant grace, but he reflects upon the nature of his own actions and how he has been involved politically. For example, when he interacts with his political enemies in hell, Virgil encourages an attitude of neutral grace rather than vengeful arrogance.
As the reader, we are expected to follow the redemptive thoughts Dante experiences during his journey through Hell. As Florentines of his time, one is supposed to suddenly realise the corruption of Florentine (and Church!) politics and politicians, and the gradual but sure 'Decadence of Florence', as clearly explicated in Canto XVI.
Another interesting point is Virgil has lead Dante so far into Hell, that Virgil, himself, employs the help of others to further descend. For example, in order to cross into the eighth circle of hell, Virgil calls Geryon to ride.
The achievement of reaching Malebolge, meaning evil ditches: a place for those who committed sins of fraud, is quite significant. Here, in the "pit of hell", lie the fraudulent, and, as one could imagine, a great number of political and religious figures. Here, and leading up to this point, Dante makes his most apparent political thesis.
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