Before there were States, there were Empires. Leading many of these Empires were Dynasties. At the center of the greatest Dynasty of them all was Xanadude.
The Venetian explorer Marco Polo once ran his fingers along Xanadude’s marble city walls, curious what was inside. Things gilded in gold? Plated in platinum? Mineral deposits always available for withdrawal?
It was 1275, and Polo believed he had at last found the jewel of Khan’s crown.
An enclosed city of immense wealth was believed to be beyond these walls. But what Polo discovered kept him in silence for the next 23 years. What he saw he could not readily describe. The shock overwhelmed Polo. Making him unable to effectively disseminate until 1298. After a hiatus of more than two decades, here is his recount:
Hark!
Walls of marble, gates of ivory
The palace nearly touches the sun
Gold leaf and silver bordering
Silk still pooled, yet to be spun
Beautiful women, beautiful men
Grass greener than it should have been
Gardens bountiful
Climate astounding
Foodstuffs plentiful
Resources abounding
The most preserved of nature
The most advanced in technology
I must be in paradise
Given all that surrounds me
Polo’s depiction is quite descriptive and poetic. Hell, you could call him a prose-fessional.
Thanks to his artistically informative capture, we can perform a little extrapolation by interpolation. And the subjective data gathered doesn't lie.
On that outstanding day, this is what Marco Polo more than likely saw:
Thanks to his artistically informative capture, we can perform a little extrapolation by interpolation. And the subjective data gathered doesn't lie.
On that outstanding day, this is what Marco Polo more than likely saw:
