"Culture Counts - The Via Egnatia: The Ancient Road Connecting East and West" Online Event

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The Via Egnatia was the first public road constructed by the Romans outside of Italy. It originated along the eastern coast of the Adriatic at Apollonia and Dyrrachium (in modern Albania) and continued east through the provinces of Macedonia and Thrace (modern Greece) to Byzantium (modern European Istanbul). It was the artery through which armies, merchandise, culture, and ideas were transported from the west to east. It also became the avenue by which the gospel of Christ spread to the west. The presentation will sketch the road’s history, construction, and organization and will discuss Paul’s travels along it during his second and third journeys. This event is part of the "Culture Counts" online lecture series.

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Event Date

Wednesday, August 7, 2024
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Speaker

Dr. Chris Vlachos: Dr. Vlachos earned an M.A. at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a Ph.D. at Wheaton College under the supervision of Douglas J. Moo. He went on to teach at Wheaton College for 17 years where he also served for many years as the director of the Wheaton in the Holy Lands program and later helped to launch, in partnership with JUC, Wheaton College’s new Semester in Jerusalem program. Dr. Vlachos has been teaching in-residence at JUC during fall semesters since 2021. He and his wife Patty live on the south side of Chicago and are the parents of three children and grandparents of six grandchildren.

Recommended Resources

• Lolos, Yannis. “Via Egnatia after Egnatius: Imperial Policy and Inter-regional Contacts.” Mediterranean Historical Review 22.2 (2007): 273–93.
• O’Sullivan, Firmin. The Ignatian Way. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole, 1972.
• Tsatsopoulou-Kaloudi, Polyxenia. Via Egnatia: History and the Route through Thrace. Athens: Archaeological Receipts Fund, 2015.
• Varagouli, E. G. and G. S. Xeidakis. “Design and Construction of Roman Roads: The Case of Via Egnatia in the Aegean Thrace, Northern Greece,” in Environmental Engineering Geoscience 3:1 (1997): 123–32.
• Walbank, Frank. “The Via Egnatia: Its Role in Roman Strategy.” Journal of Ancient Topography 12 (2002): 7–18.
• Wilson, Mark. “The Roman Road System Around the Mediterranean.” In Lexham Geographic Commentary on Acts through Revelation, edited by Barry J. Beitzel. 175– 94. Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2019.