Greek Fire
Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even on water. It provided a technological advantage, and was responsible for many key Byzantine military victories, most notably the salvation of Constantinople from two Arab sieges, thus securing the Empire's survival. Greek fire proper however was invented in c. 672, and is ascribed by the chronicler Theophanes to Kallinikos, an architect from Heliopolis in the former province of Phoenice, by then overrun by the Muslim conquests.
Read more about this topic: Byzantine Science
Famous quotes containing the words greek and/or fire:
“It is an elegant refinement that God learned Greek when he wanted to become a writer—and that he did not learn it better.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Billy, in one of his nice new sashes,
Fell in the fire and was burnt to ashes;”
—Harry Graham (1874–1936)