THE SCENE: In this passage, Marco Polo seems to advocate for polygamy using a justification so flimsy that a 4th grader could refute it.
THE TEXT: If anyone is puzzled to understand how there can be enough people to execute such tasks, and what is the sources of their livelihood, my answer is this. All the idolaters, and likewise the Saracens, take six, eight, or ten wives apiece, and as many as they can afford to keep, and beget innumerable children. Hence there will be many men with more than thirty sons of their own, who all follow them under arms. This follows from the plurality of wives. With us, on the other hand, a man has only one wife, and if she proves barren he will end his days with her and beget no children. Hence our population is less than theirs.
– Marco Polo, The Travels, 14th Century AD
[Image Credit: Sisters by Zaya]
