Marco Polo is a figure taught in all elementary  school classes talking about how he traveled to the east and brought back various treasures with him to Europe. What we are not taught about one of the worlds most famous traveler is what his actual journey is like.  Marco Polo starts his account by describing the various people who occupied the era called “Armenia Minor and Armenia Major”. As it starts out Polo describes the strengths the people of Armenia Minor hold, such as their kings “strict regard to justice”, its well defended capital city, and “abundances of all necessaries of life”.  However, he does claim that the air is bad for ones health and that the character of the civilians has decreased over time. Polo states that the people were once soldiers who were proud to fight but are now drunkards and unpleasant to be around. Moving forward Polo takes great interest in the goods and commodities the Armenians and the surrounding peoples have at their disposal to trade with. However, Polo continues to reinforce his belief that these people are somehow less than him and tends to dehumanize them. As Polo talks about the regions around Armenia, he natural runs into the topic of religion and the Muslim Caliphate. From here Polo talks about stories of religion mixed with history of half truths and half religious anachronisms. Conflicts between Muslims and Christians take center stage, clearly showing a contrast between the Christian West and the Muslim East. Polo goes over few other characteristics of the region other than the religious myths/histories and what those areas can provide for trade and barter.

Marco Polo writes in a more conventional and less personal style than someone such as Ibn Fadlan. The style in which he writes reflects a travel account approach to writing for his main work. The prolog to the main work is a travel narrative focused on the adventures of his father and uncle before and right after the time of Marco’s birth.  When Marco is actually traveling and writing he focuses on the details of trade, government, and to a lesser extent, the people who inhabit this land.  From a consumers state of mind, Polo is practical in listing the fine goods he discovers in each region and talks about the luxuries that can come of them. What Marco Polo is really focused on is the religious aspect of the greater Armenian (and by extension: Muslim) area. Polo discusses the conflict the Caliph has with Christians as well as his attempt to discredit God. Notably, Polo ends that tale with the Caliph realizing the error of his ways as he is a witness to one of God’s miracles and converts secretly to Christianity. Furthermore, Polo describes the events of the Three Magi who met the Lord Jesus in Bethlehem. This goes to show that despite being in Muslim controlled area, Polo is obsessed with tying things back to either Christianity or in some way making himself seem better than the people he is around. For each and every time he praises a group for having fine cloth or a good legal system, he insults their character or states that they have become worse with time.