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What motivated Marco Polo to undertake his legendary journey?

Auguste Starking

Hey there!

Thanks for asking about Marco Polo - I've actually been really interested in him lately, so I'm happy to share what I've learned. As you know, he's famous for his travels along the Silk Road in the late 13th century, which took him all the way from his hometown of Venice to the court of Kublai Khan in China and back again. So why did he make such a journey?

Well, the short answer is that we don't know for sure. Marco himself never wrote a full account of his travels - rather, he dictated his story to a fellow prisoner while he was in jail (more on that later), and that story was later turned into a book by another writer. So we only have secondhand accounts to go on.

From what we do know, however, it's likely that there were several factors that influenced Marco's decision to travel. First of all, he came from a family of merchants who had been involved in long-distance trade for generations. His father, Niccolò Polo, had already traveled to China before Marco was born, and it's possible that he had already planted the seed of curiosity in his son's mind.

Secondly, at the time Marco set out on his journey, Europe was undergoing a period of profound change and upheaval. The Crusades had been raging for nearly two centuries, and interaction between Europe and the Middle East and Asia was becoming more frequent. There was also a growing interest in exploration and discovery, fueled in part by the rediscovery of classical texts like those of the Greek geographer Ptolemy. Marco may have been swept up in this wave of curiosity and adventure.

Finally, it's worth noting that Marco's journey was not entirely voluntary. When he was still a young man, his father and uncle (who were both traders) set out on a journey to the East, taking Marco along with them. They reached China and spent several years as guests at the court of Kublai Khan, who was then the ruler of the Mongol Empire. Marco apparently impressed the emperor with his knowledge of science and technology, among other things, and Kublai offered him a position in his court. The Polos accepted and spent many years in China before finally returning to Venice.

However, when they arrived back home, Venice was at war with Genoa, a rival city-state. Marco fought in the war and was eventually captured by Genoese forces. It was while he was in prison that he met Rustichello, a writer who recorded his stories and composed them into a book known as the Travels of Marco Polo. So in a way, Marco's journey was motivated in part by family tradition, curiosity, and circumstance.

I hope that helps shed some light on the motivations behind Marco Polo's legendary journey! It's fascinating to think about what drove him to set out on such a long and perilous adventure, and the legacy of his travels lives on today.