Via Egnatia, a road to remember

During my first visit to Philippi (Greece), I noticed the inscription “Via Egnatia” next to what appeared to be a Roman road running a couple of meters below the modern road and parallel to it.

Till then, I only knew about the main roads of Italy, like the Via Appia, the Via Emilia, Via Aurelia, Via Flaminia, the Via Trajana, and the Via Ostiensis, to name only a few, but the Via Egnatia?

Since it bordered the Roman Agora at Philippi, it must have been important, and I soon found out that it ultimately connected to Rome. Built in the 2nd century AD, it started back in Byzantium, running through Thracia, Macedonia (Philippi, Kavala, Amphipolis, Thessaloniki, Pella, Edessa, Florina) over the mountain passes to Lake Ohrid; from there, over a difficult stretch along the Genusus River to the Adriatic Sea at Dyrrachium (originally Epidamnos), today’s Durrës in Albania opposite the port of Brindisi on the Italian Peninsula; hence the connection to Rome. Like most Roman roads, it was about six meters wide, and in many places, it was covered with large stone slabs. In total, it covered a distance of 1,120 kilometers. According to Strabo, it was named after Gnaeus Egnatius, proconsul of Macedonia, who seems to have initiated its construction, although that has not been proven yet. The road was expanded and improved many times, and for centuries, it remained Rome's vital link with its eastern provinces.

[picture from Wikipedia]

The Via Egnatia made history when Julius Caesar and Pompey marched over it, fighting for supremacy during the Great Roman Civil War that lasted from 49 to 45 BC. Leading to the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, the armies of Marc Antony and Octavian pursued Cassius and Brutus along the same road, and several milestones have been recuperated, recording the many crucial events of its life span. By the fifth century AD, large sections fell in disrepair, especially at its western end, and the Via Egnatia became more of a name than an actual highway.

The modern version called Egnatia Odos now links Igoumenitsa on the Adriatic coast to Greece’s eastern border with Turkey - a distance of 670 km and a worthy ode to the ancient Via Egnatia.

[Egnatia Odos]

Many portions of the antique highway have survived, and the best known, I think, is to be found in Philippi. But this soon may change with the discovery of a marble-paved road at a depth of three meters during the construction works for the metro in Thessaloniki. Many tombs and graves from the fourth century BC to the fourth century AD once lined this road and yielded many offerings that accompanied the dead. So far, 1,500 pieces of silver, gold, and copper jewelry have been unearthed, as well as gold coins from Persia, glass perfume bottles, terracotta vessels, and even eight golden wreaths.