Sol drives away from Megiddo while he talks over his shoulder. "Remember. The important city must have three things. It must survive the conquerors, it must have the water, and have the marketplace. Megiddo sits on a tel, a hill, beside a spring so the people can have water during the many sieges and they can watch for the invaders. It is also the crossroads of the Via Marius and the Perfume Road. For centuries, the Arabs is bringing spices and perfumes and silks from the East to this place to trade."
He gestures toward another ruin of a village on a dry hill. "All the goods that Marco Polo thinks he is fmding, the Arabs have been selling for years already. The Arabs know the routes across the desert and the watering places for the camels, so for centuries they have the monopoly. Under the Roman Empire, the Arab gains great wealth. But the Arab don't know nothing. He don't know what to do with his money, so he builds the fine palaces along the route at the oasis sites. Then the Roman merchants know to follow the palaces from one watering hole to the next, and they don't need the Arab to bring the silks and the cinnamons any longer."
He shrugs and presses the accelerator. "It don't pay to show off your wealth."
James selects a camera from those around his neck and photographs the dry landscape while the rest of us look out the van windows.
None of us mentions the Rolex.
