Via Egnatia

   Major road that traversed the Balkan Peninsula (q.v.) laterally from Constantinople to the Adriatic (qq.v.), via Thessalonike, Pella, Edessa (Vodena), Herakleia, Ohrid (qq.v.), and then, finally, to either Dyrrachion (q.v.) or Apollonia (it had two terminal points). Across the Adriatic at Brindisi (q.v.) it connected to the Via Appia, which continued on to Rome, via Capua (qq.v.). Built by the Romans around 130 B.C. as the shortest route to their Asian possessions, the Via Egnatia continued to be used throughout the Byzantine period as one of the main roads to and from western Europe. In the 12th century, for example, Manuel I's bride, Bertha of Sulzbach (qq.v.), used the Via Egnatia to reach Constantinople. The road was particularly important in connection with invasions of Byzantium (q.v.) from the West. When the Normans (q.v.) attacked Dyrrachion in 1081 it was with the object of marching along the Via Egnatia to Constantinople. In 1185 William II of Sicily (q.v.) sacked Dyrrachion and used the Via Egnatia to march to Thessalonike (q.v.), which was captured and pillaged. Charles of Anjou (q.v.) had the same intentions when he besieged Dyrrachion in 1274.