It’s lucky Marco went to jail. That’s why we know about his journey.
Here’s how it happened. Venice and Genoa had been battling for control of the Mediterranean Sea. Genoa captured Marco in a battle and threw him into prison. That’s where he met a writer named Rustichello of Pisa, who agreed to write Marco’s memoirs. Within 100 years, the book was translated into most European languages. Not everyone believed all Marco’s stories. Some called him Il Milione (Marco Millions). That may be because of his money. More likely, it was because of the million stories he had told. On his deathbed, he was asked to confess his “lies.” He supposedly said he had told only half of what he had seen.
