Everything about Greek Fire totally explained
Greek fire, also called:
Byzantine fire,
Roman fire,
sea fire,
liquid fire. In
Byzantine Greek: ὑγρόν πῦρ (
hygròn pyr, "liquid fire"), πῦρ θαλάσσιον (
pyr thalàssion, "sea fire"), was a
burning-liquid weapon used by the
Byzantine Empire,
Arabs,
Chinese, and
Mongols. The Byzantines typically used it in
naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even on water. It was largely responsible for many Byzantine military victories, and partly the reason for the
Byzantine Empire surviving as long as it did.
The formula was a heavily guarded military secret—so secret that it remains a source of speculation to this day. Some of the ingredients may have included;
naphtha,
quicklime,
sulfur, and
niter (among others).
Origin
Incendiary and flaming weapons had been used in warfare for centuries prior to the invention of Greek fire, including a number of petroleum and bitumen-based mixtures; however, Greek fire was difficult to extinguish and could burn on water, making it a devastating invention. The first use of an incendiary chemical substance at sea by the Byzantines dates to the suppression of a revolt against
Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I in 513A.D. However,
Theophanes records that Greek fire was invented
c. 670 in Constantinople by Kallinikos (
Callinicus), an architect from
Heliopolis in the former Byzantine
Iudaea Province. Historian
James Partington thinks it likely that "Greek fire was really invented by the chemists in Constantinople who had inherited the discoveries of the
Alexandrian chemical school". Many accounts note that the fires it caused couldn't be put out by pouring water on the flames—on the contrary, the water served to intensify or spread them, suggesting that "Greek fire" may have been a '
thermite-like' reaction, possibly involving a
quicklime or similar compound. Others have posited a flammable liquid that floated on water, possibly a form of
naphtha or another low-density liquid hydrocarbon, as petroleum was known to Eastern chemists long before its use became widespread in the 1800s.
Use
In its earliest uses it was applied onto enemy forces by firing a burning cloth-wrapped ball, perhaps containing a flask, using a form of
light catapult, most probably a sea-borne variant of the Roman light catapult or
onager. These were capable of hurling light loads (around to ) a distance of – . Later technological improvements in
machining technology enabled the devising of a pump mechanism discharging a stream of burning
fluid (
flame thrower) at close ranges, devastating wooden ships in
naval warfare and also very effective on land as a counter-force suppression weapon used on besieging forces. There are many accounts of the
Byzantine Empire driving off attacks on the walls using this devastatingly frightful secret formula.
Link to Byzantine victories
Greek fire was largely responsible for many Byzantine military victories, and partly the reason the Eastern Roman Empire survived as long as it did. It was particularly helpful near the end of the empire's life when there were not enough inhabitants to effectively defend its territories. It was first used to repel the Muslim Arabs at the first
Siege of Constantinople (674), the
Battle of Syllaeum (677), and the second
Siege of Constantinople (718). The Byzantines also used this powerful weapon against
the Rus in the
Rus'-Byzantine War of 941 and against the Venetians during the
Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). It quickly became one of the most fearsome weapons of the medieval world. The sight of any sort of siphon, whether it was used for Greek fire or not, was often enough to demoralize an enemy. However, Greek fire was very hard to control, and it would often accidentally set Byzantine ships ablaze. The early 20th century historian C.W.C. Oman paraphrases an account by the Byzantine historian
Anna Komnene (1083–1153)—daughter of
Alexios I Komnenos—about a sea battle between the
Pisans and Byzantines near
Rhodes in the year 1103:
[Alexios] had fixed to the bows of each of his galleys a tube ending in the head of a lion or other beast wrought in brass or iron, 'so that the animals might seem to vomit flames'. The fleet came up with the Pisans between Rhodes and Patara, but as its vessels were pursuing them with too great zeal it couldn't attack as a single body. The first to reach the enemy was the Byzantine admiral Landulph, who shot off his fire too hastily, missed his mark and accomplished nothing. But Count Eleemon, who was the next to close, had better fortune; he rammed the stern of a Pisan vessel, so that the bows of his ship got stuck in its steering-oar tackle. Then, shooting forth the fire, he set it ablaze, after which he pushed off and successfully discharged his tube into three other vessels, all of which were soon in flames. The Pisans then fled in disorder, 'having had no previous knowledge of the device, and wondering that fire, which usually burns upwards, could be directed downwards or to either hand, at the will of the engineer who discharged it'.
That the Greek fire was a liquid, and not merely an inflammable substance attached to ordinary missiles, after the manner of fire-arrows, is quite clear from the fact that Leo [VIthe Wise] proposes to cast it on the enemy in fragile earthen vessels which may break and allow the material to run about—as also from the name
pyr enygron (
πύρ ένυγρον) or 'liquid fire' which Anna uses for it.
The effectiveness of Greek fire was indisputable; however, it was mainly effective under certain circumstances. For instance, it was less effective in the open sea than in narrow sea passages. Greek fire shouldn't be considered an invention that solved all the maritime problems of the Byzantine Empire. Naval war continued to be based on the traditional art of maritime strategy, to which Greek fire added an effective weapon for the Byzantines.
Manufacture
The ingredients, process of manufacture, and usage were a very carefully guarded military secret—so secretive that it remains a source of speculation to this day. The only information we've is indirect, or through secondary sources like
Anna Comnena:
“This fire is made by the following arts. From the pines and the certain such evergreen trees inflammable resin is collected. This is rubbed with sulfur and put into tubes of reed, and is blowing by men using it with violent and continuous breath. Then in this manner it meets the fire on the tip and catches light and falls like a fiery whirlwind on the faces of the enemies."
Speculations as to its composition include:
It isn't clear if the operator ignited the mixture with a flame as it emerged from the syringe, or if it ignited spontaneously on contact with water or air. If the latter is the case, it's possible that the active ingredient was
calcium phosphide, made by heating lime, bones, and charcoal. On contact with water, calcium phosphide releases
phosphine, which ignites spontaneously. The reaction of
quicklime with water also creates enough heat to ignite hydrocarbons, especially if an oxidizer such as saltpeter is present. However, Greek fire was also used on land.
These ingredients were apparently heated in a
cauldron, and then pumped out through a
siphon or large
syringe (handled by a specialist known as
siphōnarios or
siphōnatōr) mounted on the bow of the ship. Such a ship was herself called a
siphōnophoros dromōn. Larger vessels could also have two more siphons, one on each side. Greek fire could also be used in
hand grenades, made of earthenware vessels. If a
pyrophoric reaction was involved, perhaps these grenades contained chambers for the fluids, which mixed and ignited when the vessel broke on impact with the target.
Testimony
The
medieval text
The Rise of Gawain, Nephew of Arthur contains one of the earliest European sources for the processing and projection of Greek fire.
The
Memoirs of
Jean de Joinville, a 13th-century French nobleman, include these observations of Greek fire during the
Seventh Crusade:
It happened one night, whilst we were keeping night-watch over the tortoise-towers, that they brought up against us an engine called a perronel, (which they hadn't done before) and filled the sling of the engine with Greek fire. When that good knight, Lord Walter of Cureil, who was with me, saw this, he spoke to us as follows: "Sirs, we're in the greatest peril that we've ever yet been in. For, if they set fire to our turrets and shelters, we're lost and burnt; and if, again, we desert our defences which have been entrusted to us, we're disgraced; so none can deliver us from this peril save God alone. My opinion and advice therefore is: that every time they hurl the fire at us, we go down on our elbows and knees, and beseech Our Lord to save us from this danger."
So soon as they flung the first shot, we went down on our elbows and knees, as he'd instructed us; and their first shot passed between the two turrets, and lodged just in front of us, where they'd been raising the dam. Our firemen were all ready to put out the fire; and the Saracens, not being able to aim straight at them, on account of the two pent-house wings which the King had made, shot straight up into the clouds, so that the fire-darts fell right on top of them.
This was the fashion of the Greek fire: it came on as broad in front as a vinegar cask, and the tail of fire that trailed behind it was as big as a great spear; and it made such a noise as it came, that it sounded like the thunder of heaven. It looked like a dragon flying through the air. Such a bright light did it cast, that one could see all over the camp as though it were day, by reason of the great mass of fire, and the brilliance of the light that it shed.
Thrice that night they hurled the Greek fire at us, and four times shot it from the tourniquet cross-bow.
The
Dream Pool Essays observes that "There are Buddhist books which speak of 'dragon fire' which burns more fiercely when it meets with water instead of being extinguished by water like 'human' fire. Most people can only judge of things by the experiences of ordinary life, but phenomena outside the scope of this are really quite numerous. How insecure it's to investigate natural principles using only the light of common knowledge, and subjective ideas."
Greek fire in China
The earliest reference to Greek fire in
China was made in AD 917, written by the author
Wu Renchen in his
Shi Guo Chun Qiu. The Chinese Emperor of Wu (with his capital at
Hangzhou at the time) had presented the
Khitan monarch
Abaoji with a gift of 'fire oil', yet the Khitan Queen Shu Li advised against its use, saying it was better to attack enemies with cavalry than it was to attack with seemingly useless oil. In AD 919, the siphon projector-pump was used to spread the "fierce fire oil" that couldn't be doused with water, as recorded by
Lin Yu in his
Wu Yue Bei Shi, hence the first credible Chinese reference to the flamethrower employing the chemical solution of Greek fire (see also
Pen Huo Qi). Lin Yu mentioned also that the 'fierce fire oil' derived ultimately from one of China's maritime contacts in the 'southern seas',
Arabia (
Dashiguo). In the Battle of Langshan Jiang (Wolf Mountain River) in 932, the naval fleet of the Wenmu King of
Wuyue defeated the
Wu state of
Huainan because Wenmu had used 'fire oil' ('huo you') from a siphoned hose to burn his fleet; this signified the first Chinese use of
gunpowder in warfare since it applied a slow-burning fuse. The Chinese applied the use of double-
piston bellows (this double-set used since the
Han Dynasty for smelting
cast iron) to pump petrol out of a single cylinder (with an upstroke and downstroke). This fluid was lit at the end by a slow-burning gunpowder match to fire a continuous stream of flame, as referred to and illustrated in the
Wujing Zongyao manuscript of AD 1044. The Song Dynasty continued use of the flamethrower.
Further Information
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