Ibn and Marco are not typical of the people of their time period, because they traveled. A lot. Together they have covered many of the important cities and locations of the time period, something I would think is very rare. Although many people traveled for trade, this would be over one region or between the same two regions repeatedly. Not many other people could have said that they had traveled as much as they did. During those times, however, there is almost no use for anyone to travel to such an extent. Government officials would only need to travel to nations near to their own as would merchants. There were simply too many things to worry about to travel to faraway lands, and it took too much time. Nowadays, people like Marco and Ibn exist, where they can travel around the world for fun, not just for practical purposes. The time for traveling has decreased, as has the cost. Specialization allows for people that want to travel to do so, as they don't have to manage for their own subsistence.
No comments:
Post a Comment