During the late 11th and the 12th centuries, the city of Durazzo and its province (the "Theme of Dyrrhachium"), had risen to assume great strategic importance to the Byzantine Empire. The city was the "key of Albania", the western terminus of the Via Egnatia and the main point of entry for trade, but also for the Norman invasions, from Italy, and was ideally placed to control the actions of the Slavic rulers of the western Balkans.