Greek fire
An incendiary weapon used by the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire from the 7th century. It sprayed a burning liquid from a pressurized tube, was hard to put out even with water, and proved decisive in naval battles, burning enemy fleets. Its formula was closely guarded as a state secret, was lost with the fall of the empire, and has not been successfully reproduced to this day. The Japanese name contains the word for gunpowder, but it was a different thing from black powder, and the prevailing view is that it was a petroleum-based mixture.
How it was used
The inventor is said to be Kallinikos of Heliopolis, who is reported to have brought it to the capital after fleeing the Arab conquests, during the reign of Constantine IV (r. 668–685). The chronicle of the historian Theophanes, however, records that warships fitted with spraying devices already existed in 671–672, before Kallinikos, and it has been suggested that he may only have improved an existing weapon.
The projecting device was a bronze tube called a siphon, mounted on large warships called dromons. It is also said to have been packed into clay pots and thrown. It was used against the Arab fleet attacking Constantinople and inflicted heavy damage, and is said to have been used afterwards by Leo III against the Arab attack of 717 and, in the 10th century, by Romanos I against the fleet of the Rus'. It is counted among the reasons the capital held out through repeated sieges.
The mystery of the ingredients
The greatest mystery is what was in it. It is considered fairly certain that it was a petroleum-based mixture, but the actual formula is unknown. There are conjectures of sulfur, quicklime, and liquid petroleum, and theories naming a combination of pine resin, naphtha, sulfur, and saltpeter, but none goes beyond conjecture.
The ignition mechanism is also unsettled. Opinions differ on whether it was lit by holding a flame at the nozzle, or whether its composition ignited spontaneously on contact with water. What is certain is that records of its being hard to extinguish with water appear repeatedly.
The reason the formula has not been worked out is that it was strictly kept secret from the start. Constantine VII is known for warning his successors not to let foreigners learn the formula. Those involved in its production and use were limited and nothing was left in writing, so the technology itself was lost as the empire declined.
On the name
In Japanese it is written as ギリシア火薬 (Greek gunpowder) and also as ギリシア火 or ギリシアの火 (Greek fire). It did not, however, derive propulsive or destructive force from an explosion as black powder does, and as a device that sprays a burning liquid it belongs more to the lineage of the flamethrower and napalm. Behind the inconsistency in the name is the fact that the classification could change: if the main ingredient was naphtha it is an incendiary weapon, and if it contained sulfur or saltpeter it is a relative of gunpowder. The prevailing view today is that it was petroleum-based.
To verify
- The year it was first used in battle (accounts give 673, the siege of 674–678, or 678 in Japanese sources, and they conflict)
- The origin of Kallinikos (sources describe him variously as a Syrian Greek or a Greek-speaking Jew)
- Whether Kallinikos was the inventor or improved an existing weapon
- The ingredients and the ignition mechanism (both remain conjecture, and no reproduction has succeeded)
References
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