Greek Fire

Lore & Background

Greek fire was developed around c. Theophanes reports that Kallinikos 'had devised a sea fire which ignited the Arab ships and burned them with all hands.' However, other sources mention the use of fire-carrying ships equipped with nozzles (siphōn) by the Byzantines a couple of years before Kallinikos's arrival, suggesting he may have introduced an improved version of an established weapon. The historian James Partington thinks it likely that Greek fire was not the creation of any single person but 'invented by chemists in Constantinople who had inherited the discoveries of the Alexandrian chemical school.'

Reader's Guide

Greek fire was crucial to the Byzantine Empire's survival during the Muslim conquests, helping to repel the first and second Arab sieges of Constantinople. It secured victories in later naval battles against the Saracens and was used effectively against Rus' raids and in Byzantine civil wars. The importance placed on Greek fire led Emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos to admonish his son never to reveal its secrets, claiming it was revealed by an angel. Despite enemy captures of fireships and siphōns, rival powers were never able to copy the Byzantine method of deployment. The weapon's composition was lost over time, possibly due to lost access to ingredients or the Empire's disarmament. Modern speculation includes saltpeter, sulfur, or quicklime, but most scholars agree on petroleum mixed with resins.

Did You Know?

• Original Byzantine sources called the substance names such as 'sea fire,' 'Roman fire,' 'Median fire,' 'war fire,' 'liquid fire,' 'sticky fire,' and 'manufactured fire.'
• The term 'Greek fire' has been common in English and most other languages since the Crusades.
• Emperor Constantine Porphyrogennetos warned his son never to reveal the secret of Greek fire, claiming it was shown by an angel to the first Christian emperor Constantine.