Lecture Access

This lecture will be available to view until 4 May 2026

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OVERVIEW

Watch on Demand | Online Lecture


While detained in a Genoese prison at the end of the 13th century, Marco Polo dictated his travels across Central Asia and China to Rustichello da Pisa. 

This account, known as Il Milione, became one of Europe's most detailed descriptions of the Silk Roads, the court of the Great Khan, and Mongol commercial and administrative practices. For centuries, it influenced European perceptions of Asia, shaping mapmakers, merchants, and explorers-though it combined observation with literary device and second-hand reports.

However, Marco Polo’s credibility has long been debated. Questions remain about his actual experiences, possible misunderstandings, and whether storytelling or editorial choices influenced his account. 

In this lecture, Dr. Eireann Marshall analyses Il Milione as both a historical document and a cultural artefact, comparing its claims with archaeological and textual evidence. By separating experience from embellishment, she explores why Marco Polo’s account was so significant—and why ongoing debates about its reliability reveal how medieval Europe envisioned the broader world.

LECTURER

Biography

Eireann is an Honorary Research Associate and Associate Lecturer with The Open University. Raised in the Veneto and educated at Barnard College, Columbia University, and the Universities of Birmingham and Exeter, she brings a rich international perspective to classical civilisation. With extensive experience as a lecturer and tour leader across Italy, Tunisia, Sicily and beyond including Venice, Pompeii and Ravenna – Eireann is bilingual in English and Italian, and combines scholarly rigour with engaging storytelling. Her lectures for Academy Travel invite listeners to explore the ancient world not just as history but as a living dialogue between past and present – bringing monuments, art and ideas vividly to life.

Dr Eireann Marshall

Classicist & Historian