Long before mere mortals inhabited ancient Greece, there was a great struggle for power between the Titans and their descendants, the Olympian gods. Upon their glorious victory, the three Olympian brothers—Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades—split the realms of the universe between them, as the Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus. But Gaia, the great goddess of Earth and mother of the Titans, was incensed by the defeat of her children and called on their siblings, the Giants, to rise up in revolt.
According to ancient Greek myth, there once was a great city on the edge of the Aegean Sea—a city in desperate need of a patron god. The people’s prayers made it all the way to Mt. Olympus, leading both Poseidon and Athena to appear before the city and ask for its favor. So the king, a half-man, half-serpent named Cecrops, declared a competition. The god who gave the city the greatest gift would become its patron.
In 324 A.D., mere months after becoming the sole ruler of the eastern and western Roman Empire, Constantine I began making plans for a new imperial residence on the Bosphorus Strait. Within six years, Constantine’s New Rome—or Constantinople—would become the capital of the eastern Roman Empire. And this flourishing epicenter of culture and Christianity would serve as one of the emperor’s most lasting accomplishments.
It’s a story you’ll (hopefully) remember from high school history class. When George Washington took the oath of office in 1789, he did so in New York City, the first national capital of the United States under the Constitution. By 1790, however, the capital would be relocated to Philadelphia, where it would remain for the next decade while the new and lasting federal city was under construction in the District of Columbia. What you may not remember is that under the Articles of Confederation—the precursor to the Constitution—Congress convened in five different “capital” cities between 1781 and 1788.
Some people are just born lucky. They’re blessed with a creative mind, a unique talent, or the ability to learn—and retain—foreign languages. They have model good looks or always win raffle prizes. But in my case, luck (and some very wise parents) would give me the opportunity to grow up on the edge of an extraordinary city—a lovely confluence of hills, fog, arts, culture, and cuisine, all packed into a seven-by-seven-mile square.
The Long Weekender 