Via Egnatia (Greek: Εγνατία Οδός) was a road constructed by the Romans around 146 BC. It was named after Gaius Ignatius, proconsul of Macedonia, who ordered its construction. The road stretched across Illyria, Macedonia and Thrace, running across modern Albania, Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey. It was constructed in order to link up different Roman colonies from the Adriatic Sea to Byzantium.

The Via Egnatia was repaired and expanded several times. It remained an important commercial and strategic route for centuries, and was one of the most important roads in the Byzantine Empire, connecting Dyrrhachium on the Adriatic with Thessalonica, Adrianople, and finally Constantinople on the Bosporus. Almost all overland trade with western Europe travelled along the Via Egnatia. During the Crusades, armies travelling 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.

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