Route of the Via Egnatia.
The 'Via Egnatia' (
Greek: Εγνατία Οδός) was a
road constructed by the
Romans in the
2nd century BC. It crossed the Roman provinces of
Illyria,
Macedonia, and
Thrace, running through territory that is now part of modern
Albania, the
Republic of Macedonia,
Greece, and European
Turkey.
Starting at
Dyrrachium (now
Durrës) on the
Adriatic Sea, the road followed a difficult route along the river Genusus (
Shkumbin), over the
Candaviae mountains and thence to the highlands around
Lake Ohrid. It then turned south, following several high mountain passes to reach the northern coastline of the
Aegean Sea at
Thessalonica. From there it ran through Thrace to the city of
Byzantium (now
Istanbul).
[1] It covered a total distance of about 1,120 km (696 miles / 746 Roman miles). Like other major Roman roads, it was about six metres (19.6 ft) wide, paved with large polygonal stone slabs or covered with a hard layer of sand.
[2]
Construction
The main literary sources for the construction of the road are
Strabo's ''
Geographica'' and a number of
milestones found along the route's length, marking the road for a length of 535 miles as far as the border between Macedonia and Thrace at the river Hebrus (
Maritsa). Bilingual inscriptions on the milestones record that
Gnaeus Egnatius,
proconsul of Macedonia, ordered its construction, though the exact date is uncertain; the road presumably took its name from its builder.
[3] It may have succeeded an earlier military road from Illyria to Byzantium, as described by
Polybius and
Cicero, which the Romans apparently built over and/or improved.
[4]
The Via Egnatia was constructed in order to link a chain of Roman colonies stretching from the
Adriatic Sea to the
Bosphorus. The termini of the Via Egnatia and the
Via Appia, leading from Rome itself, were almost directly opposite each other on the east and west shores of the
Adriatic Sea. The route thus gave the colonies of the southern Balkans a direct connection to Rome. It was also a vital link to Roman territories further to the east; until a more northerly route across Illyria was opened under
Augustus it was Rome's main link with her empire in the eastern Mediterranean. It was repaired and expanded several times but experienced lengthy periods of neglect due to Rome's civil wars.
The road played a vital role in several key moments in Roman history: the armies of
Julius Caesar and
Pompey marched along the Via Egnatia during
Caesar's civil war, and during the
Liberators' civil war Mark Antony and
Octavian pursued
Cassius and
Brutus along the Via Appia to their fateful meeting at the
Battle of Philippi. Surviving milestones record that the emperor
Trajan undertook extensive repairs of the road prior to his campaign of
113 against the
Parthians. However, by the fifth century AD the road had largely fallen into disuse as a result of violent instability in the region.
3 A fifth-century historian noted that the western sections of the Via Egnatia were in such a poor state that travellers could barely pass along it.
[5]
Post-Roman usage
In later years, the Via Egnatia was revived as a key road of the
Byzantine Empire;
Procopius records repairs made by the Byzantine emperor
Justinian I during the sixth century, though even then the dilapidated road was said to be virtually unusable during wet weather.
5 Almost all Byzantine overland trade with western Europe traveled along the Via Egnatia. During the
Crusades, armies traveling to the east by land followed the road to Constantinople before crossing into
Asia Minor. In the aftermath of the
Fourth Crusade, control of the road was vital for the survival of the
Latin Empire as well as the Byzantine successor states the
Empire of Nicaea and the
Despotate of Epirus.
A modern highway,
Egnatia Odos, runs in parallel with the Via Egnatia between Thessaloniki and the Turkish border on the
Evros river. Its name means "Via Egnatia" in Greek, alluding to its ancient predecessor.
[6]
Key towns along the Via Egnatia
'''(listed from west to east)'''
References
1. Richard J. A. Talbert, ''Barrington atlas of the Greek and Roman world: Map-by-map Directory'', p. 749. Princeton University Press, 2000. ISBN 0691049459
2. Elena Koytcheva, "Logistical problems for the movement of the early crusaders through the Balkans: transport and road systems", p. 54 in ''Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies'', ed. Elizabeth Jeffreys. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 2006. ISBN 075465740X
3. G. H. R. Horsley, ''New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity'', p. 81. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1982. ISBN 0802845118
4. Ben Witherington III, ''1 and 2 Thesssalonians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary'', fn. 11 p. 3. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0802828361.
5. John F. Haldon, ''Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World'', p. 54. Routledge, 1999. ISBN 185728495X.
6. See the website of Egnatia Odos S.A., the company responsible for building the road.
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