"Greek Fire": The Elusive Medieval Liquid Fire
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Few military inventions of the Middle Ages have fascinated historians and history buffs more than the mysterious incendiary known as Greek fire. This infamous Byzantine weapon has often been compared to modern flame-throwers, and its Arab counterpart, which was thrown in small round pots, to hand grenades. To this day, however, the substance itself and how it was deployed are shrouded in myth despite extensive research and testing - although many articles and videos here on KZhead and elsewhere suggest the opposite. Here is what we know and don’t know about the liquid fire of the middle-ages.
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Pryor, J. H. and Jeffreys, E. M., Age of the DROMON: The Byzantine Navy, ca. 500-1204. Leiden 2006.
Partington, J. R., A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, Baltimore 1999.
Madgearu, A., s. v. “Greek Fire” in: Clifford J. Rogers (ed), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, 2010.
Leo VI, The Taktika of Leo VI. Ed. and trans. George T. Dennis. Dumbarton Oaks Texts, 12. Washington: 2010.
Pryor, J. H. and Jeffreys, E. M., Age of the DROMON: The Byzantine Navy, ca. 500-1204. Leiden 2006.
John H. Haldon, Maurice Byrne, A possible solution of the Greek Fire. In: Byzantinische Zeitschrift 70 (1977).
DeVries, K./ Smith, R. D., Medieval Military Technology, Toronto 2012.
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sad to see you do business with ruzzian companies. beside the point that the only thing realistic in warthunder are the vehicle model, its really not all that realistic on any other front. its a ruzzian company and you are indirectly sponsoring putins war. sadly I can't finish watching the video and for now I'm unsubbing as well. please pick your sponsors better
Hey SandRhomanHistory - mind making a documentary about Nadir Shah?
honestly i like war thunder, but its awful, you gotta make a buck, its how it goes
Amazing how we can be so sure Greek Fire existed, but at the same time have no idea what it really was.
The fact that poison gas was used by both sides on the Western Front during WW I is well-known, but how many people knew what specific substances were used? Even fewer people would have the knowledge to produce them. The soldiers would neither know or care about the specifics, and the scientists are not going to be publishing articles about military secrets.
We all know Hitler went to Argentina, but we have no idea how he looked like after facial plastic surgery
The Greeks: Let´s invent flamethrowers !!! The Europeans: It looked like a flying dragon, WoW !!!
Always love some thoroughly anti-clickbait content like this
Germany in ww1: we uses flamethrowers for the first time in combat Byzantine empire: hold my Greek fire
Germany in ww1: look what out mighty invention that we definitely invented does to a person target: brutally screaming and flailing trying to put out the flames Americans in ww1: check out my BOOM stick Germany: nuuuuuuh, thats horrible, you cant use that! too brutal! evil-bad-evil! my comment isnt really related to what you said, but its what pops up in my head every time theres talk of ww1 germany and flamethrowers. that or the "this is mine flammenwerfer, it werfs flammen" meme
@@scratthesquirrel5242 Except very few people died from flamethrowers because enemies tended to run away or surrender before it closed to effective range. You can't run away from maiming, impossible to operate on (especially in frontline conditions) shotgun rounds employed by shitstain war criminals blatantly violating accepted conventions.
@@scratthesquirrel5242 I see it as a mere propaganda to demonize the Americans during ww1. Before America's entry in ww1, the British, French and even the Germans were using shotguns
@@scratthesquirrel5242 kinda the german strategy game community in a nutshell. just the usual mo
What was the Americans boom stick?
One little detail: these flamethrowers as depicted could potentially self-destruct in an explosion when the fuel is almost used up! A superheated fuel and you pump air in and at some point you'll reach the concentration window where fuel air mix will explode...
Maybe that is the real reason they had a risk of exploding on ships. They assumed it was the heating of the tank (which was probably not helping) but may have actually been caused by what you have suggested.
I LOOOOVE THE SMELL OF GREEK FIRE IN THE MORNING
Works great on the worshipers of baal
@@danhobart4009 : “The worshippers of Baal”?? As in, the Ancient Canaanites??? Wouldn’t they have been around, centuries too early to witness “Greek Fire”? Your timeline seems to have folded back upon itself! 🤣😂😁
OORAH!
@@samy7013 Green never changes
The question is did it really exist?
I loved parking a single Naphtha team above the gate of a fortress in TW Medieval II. Any rams that got close were set on fire instantly, and any infantry that tried to storm the gates broke and ran straight away. It was bliss.
I'm sure it was, friend.
small note for those interested, the name the byzantines used for this material was "liquid fire" (υγρόν πύρ- igron pir).
Yes, the crusaders called it "Greek fire" because they refused to see the Eastern Roman Empire as Roman. The Eastern Romans themselves called it liquid Fire.
You might want to check Spanish historian José Soto’s novel, “Bajo el fuego y la sal”, dealing with the sack of Rome in 843 A.D. it revolves around Greek fire, providing interesting facts about the methods and processes to make the mixture and weaponizing it.
Staggering illustrations nonetheless. Can you some vids on more overlooked parts of Byzantine and Middle ages Greek lands like the History of Moreea and how come it managed to be so well defended against the turks. Or about the politics and wars on these so fractured realms before the fall of Constantinople
stolen pictures mostly from osprey books
Can you please do something on the stradioti? They were Balkan (mostly Greek, Albanian and Arvanite) light horseman who were used throughout Europe as mercenaries.
talked a little bit about them in our "small war" video but we might cover them more in-depth at some point.
Greek Fire is what I experience in my bowels after eating undercooked gyros
How often do you shave your babylons a year?
Nurgle is pleased follower
You have a weak stomachache
@@kaiza9184joke: noun; a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter, especially a story with a funny punchline. Often overlooked by morons trying to measure virtual penis size.
Haha haha haha 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 👍 good one mate
Greek fire is actually my mixtape in liquid form.
Im betting it acted as a sort of napalm. Sticky jelly like liquid that ignites and sticks to everything it touches
Great choice of topic! I know that this will be an awesome video. Extra kudos for investigating and discussing the Umayyad Caliphate’s own variant of the powerful “Greek Fire” weapon!
If there are so many vessels that have been found, has anyone attempted to examine the interior to see what liquids might have been inside? chemical tests examinations with the microscope...
Most chemical compounds break down over time, especially with salt water in the mix.
I would pay for a generalized cover of Medieval and Early Modern grenades, especially hand grenades.
I find it weird that people find the idea of projecting a flammable substance so beyond their means. Consider the many technical wonders that were achieved in those days, millenia before technology as we know it. They knew certain things caught fire, were hard to put out, and they understood how to utilise pressure. It's not like the claim is that they acheived rocket flight. This is documented by their enemies also, which is odd. I'm not sure why they would promote the idea that the opposition had a superweapon.
what is interesting about it is that it was never remade until the first world war where the idea took off again.
Yeah I always thought it was strange that this seemed to be such a wonder weapon, when you would assume a lot of people in those days understood fire enough that maybe it would have caught them off guard the first couple of times, but then word would have gotten around fast and then everyone would have figured out greek fire liquids. Kinda like when the tank or the machine gun or gas was first used, everyone else was surprised at first but then figured it out by the 3rd, 4th time using it
11:27 love the fireball animation here
Great to see the comments so active so soon after release, amazing to see how much the channel has grown since the burgundy wars episodes
Brilliant video sir. I love the Byzantine Empire. I see you depict the Byzantine soldiers using Western European Arming swords, It would be superb to see them armed with the beautiful curved Byzantine Paramerion. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramerion
I'll try to remember that if we produce more content on the Byzantines. (there will be another video looking at the Byzantine military reforms in the 9th / 10th century but unfortunately that video is already finished, so sadly, I can't redo the entire artwork!
They actually used Western Europian armors and swords. Paramerion was not a standard sword, it changed through time
@@SandRhomanHistoryYes, please use the Paramerion Swords & the Spatha! 👍🏻
They took the formula with them to the grave
This reminds me of disagreement I had with my lecturer, she was of the opinion that there was no technology that was hidden or lost for some reason but quickly accepted she might be a little wrong due to my explanation of greek fire.
A simple double boiler would help prevent the oil from overheating.
I'd do it as a multi-stage heating. The main reservoir stays cool. Some is taken into the first heating stage - your double boiler. That takes the oil to a safe but higher temperature. Then the final stage before firing, where it gets really hot. It wouldn't take much time to take it to useable temps. The goal being to limit the amount of oil at the hotter stages.
Please, please and please more Byzantine videos? Armor and weapons? When did they start losing superiority over Western foes? This is a field that is not well covered, other than Justinian's campaigns and Basil (+crusades). I guess the Byzantine Empire was on par if not better than the West in the early 11th century right after Basil maybe? They were using the Varangian guard which was made mostly of Viking/Rus/Slavic warriors - the Normans, which were pretty much Vikings, have shown their power by, well, conquering quite a lot in Europe...
This!
Normans were nothing like Vikings, except for surpassing them in every way in their need for conquest and riches. The Normans were innovators though fielding the first Knights and Crossbows against the Byzantines at Dyrrachium. Their couched lances in particular were extremely devasting to Byzantine lines. Of course despite that the Middle Macedonian Byzantine army( an army that proved it could take on the HRE, Seljuks and Fatimids) that Alexios inherited was still competent enough to almost win the battle until the Varangians broke formation to chase the fleeing Normans and got slaughtered. The defeat there destroyed the Byzantine army 5 times worse than Manizkert.
@@tylerellis9097 Am indeed aware of Dyrrhachium and its devastating consequences on the army. Like you said, if it wasn't for the Varangians having such a hatred for the Normans then the battle would have been won (or if they were put in reserve to fill the gaps). What is more disappointing is that this is a classic "Byzantine Loss" - where they have superiority in all areas but, due to a "something" happening, they lose. The Venetians took care of the Norman fleet, they were pretty much starving and Alexios gave Guiscard exactly what he wanted : A battle before starvation and disease sealed them in Dyrrhachium... I would say Manzikert is another classic and timeless loss of a battle in a Byzantine style (not to underestimate their enemies of course, which used every last card possible). In the end, Alexios managed to win but at a cost that was absurd. The amount of damage the Normans did to the Empire after their victory is immeasurable. Just glad that Alexios, in the end, proved to be an alright emperor.
@@tylerellis9097 Agreed on the Normans not being like the Vikings, mine was more of a comparison than anything. Hell, the Southern Italian "Normans" were nothing like the Normans in Normandy and so on.
Byzantines had the same weapons and armors as in west
Anyone play Total War : Medieval War? You can use hand-held greek fire throwers, and just flame entire garrisons at the entrance.. see them catch fire, scream run around in circles and the religious fanatics charge right into the fire that is killing everyone... in HD that would be a violent remake... cant imagine what that would be like in real - those WW2 flamethrower guys had to be made of another sort.
pretty interesting that this was never reinvented until world war 1.
It WAS never reinvented, we still have no idea what it was actually made of
@@lemieux-z8933 Napalm is basically liquid fire
I don't trust those dolphins...
Needs more dolphin, otherwise another 10 out of 10 video. Thank you!
The fact that he just gets right in to the subject is FANTASTIC! No 5 minutes of splash screens, sponsor's, social plugs etc. I do enjoy GarandThumb, but every video has anywhere between 3 to 7 minutes of sponsor reads and plugs. It's gets to the point where I avoid clicking. With these, I can click without needing to scrub through to skip all the monetary fluff. Very much appreciated, and it really makes it feel like he respects our time and our attention span. ^_^
That's why I quit watching garandthum awhile ago, once he got bigger his ego and stupidity grew more on the channel and its nonstop ad reading and useless filler for a 10 minute video of 3 minutes of actual video
My hypothesis is that Greek fire is actually crude oil that they discovered and used as a weapon.
This is really good.
Yep same here, it makes too much sense hey
They refined it through distillation
i've read/seen so many videos about this, but indeed the most surely it was petroleum mixed with something to improve its effects. imagine if they found a shipwreck with it
Giving that some of the use came in the Black Sea and the Black Sea is quite known for its ability to preserve ships in pristine condition (anoxic conditions), if it's there, it's going to be in great condition!
Modern chemistry is so accurate. That if a vessel with trace Greek Fire residues were found. The composition could probably be worked out by scientists.
Excellent art and animations in this one! Keep it up!
incredible once again. better than any other youtuber on this topic.
Great summary! Thanks a lot!
The ottomans had canons & janissaries. This after the 4th Crusade descimated them & the Black Plague annihilated them while they fought a dozen Civil Wars & were attacked by 3-4 major enemies from all sides. In the end the Byzantines were outnumbered 120,000+ vs 7,000 😃 And their Emperor still decided to fight to the death despite being offered a small fiefdom to rule & live out his days. He didn’t accept because he was the Ancestor of the Greeks & Romans & "the City" was the hope & joy of all the Greeks! These are his words 🇬🇷🦅✊🏻
Constantinopolis and Roma Eterna ! Hellas Forever !
Wow how interesting an informative. I know it took a lot of work. The video was so good I had to watch it 2 times. Cary in Tucson
Incredible documentary as always!
Maybe seeing fire like this lowered morale of enemy.
GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNIN' OTT-O-MAAAANS! (I know it was mainly used against Arabs but it was the closest word to Vi-et-nam I could think of lol)
Sa-ra-cen
Um-ayy-ads?
A-bba-ssids?
If anyone is (very) keen on Byzantine naval warfare I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's videos series
We got a fellow gentleman here!
One can wonder had the Byzantines kept innovating, they could mass produce guns and possibly survived longer.
You can only innovate for so long and the west caught up militarily by the 12th century and surpassed them in the 13th.
@@tylerellis9097 I mean, the late Roman empire was on the verge of factories, before the western collapse. Without constant pressure on all sides, who knows what could be achieved.
God, these comments are weird, even by youtube standards.
Yeah… what the actual
Bots.
when used at sea, if I were captaining the ship I would only allow its use when firing down wind
I love the drawings you guys make of the soldiers
They did a programme on uk tv years ago to try to recreate greek fire
Drachinifel made a video or two about greek fire and it was quite "illuminating"....
Excellent video!
Greek Fire is a unique tech for the Byzantines in aoe2. It increases the range of fire ships, and increases the blast radius of bombard towers and dromons.
Yes, sadly most of civilizations have fire ships, its historical inacurate, only byzantines must have fire ships.
AOE is full of history inaccuracy mate@@TheGreekRebel
I'm sure the debate on how this was made n deployed will continue on forever. Unless someone invents a time machine.
Please more videos
I really think that the myth is greater than the actual weapon existence or use. They probably created a liquid mix of ancient gasoline and released it mostly from ships using hoses like devises using pumps maybe?. The range had to be close I suppose for sure but not too close for the fire to hit their own ship.
Dunno bout gasoline but many plants based oils are highly flammable.
They definitely didn't have the ability to make gasoline.
@@garretth8224 You notice that the Middle East has a lot of oil? It's known that some of it bubbles up. In the heat and given time, these pools naturally separate into different grades. The volumes aren't huge, but the amounts of Greek fire used wasn't a lot as far as we know.
@@recoil53 it's plausible, mining has existed for a long time. How they pressurised and sprayed it is the most interesting thing to me,
@@redstarling5171 Pumps have been around a while too. If nothing else, modified bellows.
It is a sad indictment on modern society that this high quality educational content is struggling to find mere $600/month but fucking Cocomelon probably rakes in about $2 billion every time a video drops….
Its always been this way. Most of shakespeare is low brow dick jokes and murder. You only think its high brow cause its written in early modern english.
@@markbaker4425terrible comparrison, shakespeare created stories that have stood the test of time and were genuinely enjoyed by both the lower and upper classes
I would say since old urine could put out Greek fire..it probably contained phosphorus and that to is associated with nitrogen and nitrogen is a component of gunpowder that might explane the dry form of Greek fire .
Nice topic!
What if the Byzantines had managed to refine gasoline, which burns and is much more liquid than "nafta" (crude petroleum)? Or at least gasoil...
It’s “Naptha.” And being less viscous like pure gasoline is actually not desirable in a flame thrower fuel since it just sprays in a cloud instead of staying in clumps that travel farther. A stickier incendiary also sticks to targets and burns them for longer.
@@samiamrg7 - Whatever: you say tomayto, I say tomehto. To make gasoline sticky, you add soap. Molotov Cocktail manual 101, chapter 3: how to make something like napalm...
@@LuisAldamiz But also, if tgey could make gasoline, they would have been making all the other distillates of petroleum as well, which have many uses and would leave evidence, For example, there is no evidence they lit or heated or cooked using refined petroleum. The Naptha in question (since there is ambiguity as to what medieval naptha was as well) is perhaps some kind of impure distillate of crude oil created through simple distillation. This naptha would be similar to White Gas except with a lot of impurities. There are textual records of it being used in ancient lamps and religious rituals, and may have been able to be thickened for use as a weapon.
@@samiamrg7 - IDK, but, if it was such a state secret, the recipe and product would not be available for other purposes.
@@samiamrg7 It's "Naphtha"
Intense periods of infection lasted for many years in much of Greece and the Byzantine Empire. In Constantinople, the Black Death was widespread until 1364, and the situation did not begin to improve in the Peloponnese and Crete until a whole year later.
Really good and interesting video
Many don't give enough credit to the eastern roman empire for its progress and strength, even if contemporaries clearly did. I've always wondered what would have happened if Constantinople hadn't been treacherously ransacked by the crusaders and its power replaced by the disfunctional latin empire
Someone knows how solid incendiary weapons worked
After my knowledge in the Later Medieval age throwing flame granade are more comon!
You should do a video about the siege of besançon in 1647 or 1674 can't remember
9:45 can you name a song/music? it sounds so familiar but i can't recognize it
Very nice video. The machining and tolerances needed to create these pump activated flamethrowers seem wildly out of place in the 7th century AD.
The Antikythera mechanism, the first computer, was already build in 205bc at latest, being FAR more sophisticated, and with far higher tolerances (1850 years before the Europeans could do similarly)... I think that you have no idea what you are talking about, those were Greeks after all... Cristendom and Romans, Germans destroyed the Greeks with violence and treason, but also set back humanity for around 2000 years. Archimedes invented calculus already before 250bc, and the Europeans re-invented it in 1800ad (also in Italy), but the proof was worse than the greek one, still, despite 2050 years gone by... This knowledge about Archimedes is just 30 years old. 30 years ago, everyone thought that calculus was invented in 1800ad... kzhead.info/sun/kpprdauKZKSDmoE/bejne.html From the University of Hamburg, Germany
hellenistic greeks and romans regularly used double action piston pumps to drain mines, as bilge pumps, for water distribution, for firefighting etc.
@@klausbrinck2137 As soon as I read this ignorant comment (that you have replied to), my first thought was "Antikythera Mechanism"? Has he ever heard of it?
@@rodjones117 Watching YT-videos surely doesn´t make anyone more intelligent... If one watches enough of them, it may make him more educated, which is fair enough...
@@klausbrinck2137 we can only hope that he becomes more educated, as he certainly could use it...
Nikeforos Fokas used Catapults efficiently!!! 😃
I wonder if Greek fire could have been used as a air spray & operated ss a crude "Thermobaric blast" ?? !!
The dolphin!!!😃🤣
>>what we know about Greek fire: >>Europeans didn't use it. >>Greek fire >>Greek >>Europeans didn't use it
Greece is in Europe.
@@kieran5191that's what this comment is sarcastically pointing out.
Invented by a syrian though.
@@markbaker4425 Greek* named Kalinikos in syria I mean we don't know where his ancestors originate from...
Western Europeans, obviously.
“Pig shit!” “Pig shit?”
Maybe to have bonus damage vs muslims.
I would be really Interested in a Video about the Wars in Germania against the Romans etc
Sounds like oil mixed with something to make it easier to light on fire.
oil mixed with oil🤔
@@sdssdds8415basic oil is not super flammable. It just burns heavily once it is hot enough, so to get it going, you probably use more than basic oil
The fragmentary evidence and the whole "secret recipe" seem like hallmarks of a medieval urban legend.
Fragments are often all that survives up to this point in history. With all the other attempted state secrets throughout history it only makes sense that such a deadly weapon would be closely guarded
We know that was so damn efective as to be one of the main reasons for the East Roman empire to survive centuries longer than the West.
Do you mean the west
@@generalgrievous2202 Yes, thanks, editing
Top
Now I know.
I wonder how much Byzantium invested in these wonder weapons, when it would have just been better to build more ships or cannons?
Cannons weren't around until the very late stages of the Byzantine empire. The Empire also had manpower problems. The more territory they lost, the more people they lost and the more their enemies gained.
Liquid Fire formed a core part(and guarded secret) of the Byzantine arsenal but it wasn't some super weapon and most of the time was ultimately but one tool used in sieges or naval battles@@recoil53 The majority of Byzantine victories didn't involve it or mention it as an important asset. A notable case is the Siege of Chandex though where liquid fire grenades put in tunnels were used to collapse the walls.
@@tylerellis9097 My point was the Byzantines couldn't raise larger armies that they could trust (important qualifier) or man a larger navy.
@@recoil53 Oh shit I accidentally replied to you when I meant that for OP. I mean not really though they raised 20,000 men armies on standard field campaigns and 30-40,000 on rare occasions cause that was the proven army size they could supply, organize and maneuver. From 500 to 1204 you see Byzantine army sizes stay the same for that reason. And if we’re talking lost of manpower that of course is tied to territorial lost at various points and later down the line to corruption, a semi independent feudal noble class and an increasingly urbanized Greek population in mainland Greece that traded service for cash and no martial loyalty to the state any longer.
@@tylerellis9097 The OP was saying the money spent on Byzantine wonder weapons could have been better spent ton galleys or the army. With that money, could they have raised an even larger army? I'm saying the Byzantines couldn't realistically have larger armies than they already had. Some of their sources of man power - like Armenia - were questionable in loyalty. Not desireable.
Why don't we just analyse the area in which the fragments of those thrown weapons are found? I mean the soil should at least contain some byproducts of the burning process, no? 🤔 Also if the vessels itself are preserved very well, maybe in a dryer sandy climate, it may be possible to find some traces of the material originally hold in the on the wall with a SEM.
we dont need greek fire. we have napalm. napalm is either very similar or better than greek fire.
The dolphins are on our side 🫡
I am sure the two types of greek fire Originally it ignited on water so probably contained some element like magnesium. Then it became more flamethrower like so probably petroleum based. And the third type might have been gunpowder as the western europeans attributed gunpowder to being discovered by marcus the greek.
You should do a video about the sluys and its important In the hundred years war or the crecy campaign
Archimedes of Syracuse, Sicily was the first to invent and use "greek fire' !!
Early Phosphex
Strange how on the one hand it was top secret and then the muslims produced great quantities of it. Maybe they preserved some of the knowlegde. Also if the grenades survived, wouldnt they contain some traces of the greek fire?
Muslims had their own version, however nothing devised that was quite as lethal as authentic Greek Fire
taco is the Mexican fire
what are the sources for the use of liquid fire by arabs / muslims? just curious.
Salt Peter
I understand we do not know the constituents of the original "Greek Fire" used by the Byzantines, but do we know how the Muslim army made what they called Greek Fire?
Perhaps the "Greek Fire" became like "kleenex". A brand name that has become so popular that it essentially can replace a word. So just like the brand name "Kleenex" can mean tissue, "Greek fire" can mean "incendiary weapon" regardless of the chemicals used.
@@twistedyogert Bingo
This seapon killed like 100-150.000 saracens at least
And how did you come up with that number?
could they have used the fire to fuel the sails to move even without wind?
What?
@@strellettes8511 Like a balloon
no because the whole principle of sails is that the wind carries them and pushes them. any force pushed onto the sail couldn't be on the ship as the force to push the ship would balance out with the force pushing against the source. or something to that extent. but also no they would just burn the sails.
@@mattychrist but balloons do lift when they are fired. why is it that this force cant be used in a different direction?
@@stormnr2 balloons capture the rising hot air causing it to lift up higher than the cooler air around it because hot air rises. A sail catches wind current pushing horizontally its simply a different directional force so it couldn't work.
Can this stuff be Nepalm...???
If only the Eastern Romans left more records like the Chinese, then this mystery could be solved more easily.
They kept extensive records, but unfortunately much was lost during the sack of 1204
@@Hyssar and in the sack of 1453 which was far more brutal.
@@BlaBla-pf8mf 4th crusafe was the brutal,they destroyed the empire
@@BlaBla-pf8mf That seems unlikely, although I guess it depends on how you define brutality. The city (and its treasures) were so diminished by 1453 that even if the Ottomans had killed everyone and looted every last penny, they still would have killed fewer people and taken fewer treasures than the Venetians did in 1204.
@@BlaBla-pf8mf 1204 is what burned the libraries, drove away the scholars, destroyed the industry
about the big risk of having flammable materials on board of a wooden ship, we muslims have a historical event of a man who killed 300 and was a hero. he kalled abu al ghadia قال عثمان بن أبي العاتكة : رمى العدو الناس بالنفط، فقال معاوية : أما إذا فعلوها فافعلوا، فكانوا يترامون بها , فتهيأ رومي لرمي سفينة أبي الغادية في طنجير، فرماه أبو الغادية بسهم، فقتله، وخر الطنجير في سفينتهم، فاحترقت بأهلها، كانوا ثلاثمائة، فكان يقال : رمية سهم أبي الغادية قتلت ثلاثمائة نفس says uthman ibn abi al a'aika:"the enemy [the byzantins] threw our people with petrol" said mou'awiya "... if they did it you do it [muslims], so they start throwing at us, then a roman [byzantian] decided to throw a pot of fire on the ship of abi al ghadia so abi al ghadia shot him with an arrow, he killed him, the pot fell in the ship, the ship burned with 300 soldier , from then in was common between people the arrow shot of al ghadia killed 300 soul"
Καλίνικος
The evidence and findings are scarse at best
🗿👍🏿
I think that anyone who has seen the first seasons of Game of Thrones and the use of Valyrian Fire, will know how terrifying the use of Greek Fire in the middle of a Naval battle could have been in real life; This fire and its mechanism are a weapon so out of its time, that even seeing its version used by infantry makes it seem like it is something taken from Warhammer Fantasy stories, but reality is always stranger than fiction. The Byzantines will continue to be an interesting civilization for having been the only part of the ancient Roman Empire, which survived with inventions like this, in the darkest age of Europe.
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised but I am kinda weirded out that most of the comments in this video are just people fighting for whatever identity they think makes them special.
Firreeeeeee!
it was probably just an analogue of napalm