Greek Fire (redirected from Byzantine fire)

Greek fire, a flammable composition believed to have consisted of sulfur, naphtha, and quicklime. Although known in antiquity, it was first employed on a large scale by the Byzantines. Bronze tubes that emitted jets of liquid fire were mounted on the prows of their galleys and on the walls of Constantinople. The Byzantines in 678 and again in 717–18 destroyed two Saracen fleets with Greek fire.

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Greek fire

Any of several flammable mixtures used in ancient and medieval warfare, particularly a petroleum-based mixture invented by the Byzantine Greeks in the 7th century. Flammable materials such as pitch and sulfur had been used in war since ancient times, but true Greek fire was especially deadly. Thrown in pots or discharged from tubes, it apparently caught fire spontaneously, and water could not put it out. Greek fire launched from tubes mounted on ship prows wrought havoc on the Arab fleet attacking Constantinople in 673. Its effectiveness was a prime reason for the long survival of the Byzantine Empire. The recipe was so secret that its precise composition remains unknown.

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Greek Fire 

an incendiary mixture that was used in the seventh to 15th centuries in sea battles and during sieges of fortresses. Greek fire probably consisted of resin, rosin, sulfur, saltpeter, and other substances; its flame could not be extinguished by water. In 673 the Greeks, who had borrowed it from the Arabs, successfully used it in the defense of Constantinople. The ignited mixture was hurled at enemy ships in kegs and also from special copper tubes that were installed on the prow and sides of the ship. Until the 12th century the Greeks held a monopoly on the use of Greek fire in sea battles; later it began to be used in other fleets. With the appearance of firearms, Greek fire lost its importance.