Greek fire was the most devastating weapon in the Eastern Roman empire. But what was it?

Per The Conversation, Greek fire was a combustible liquid that gave the Byzantine navy a devastating tactical advantage for nearly five centuries, from the seventh century onward. Sprayed through bronze tubes mounted on ship bows, it clung to any surface—even seawater—and couldn't be extinguished. The weapon's inventor remains uncertain; historians believe it may have been created by a Syrian architect named Kallinikos, but Byzantine rulers guarded the recipe so jealously that when their empire fell to the Ottoman Empire in fourteen fifty-three, the formula vanished entirely. Modern chemists have speculated the mixture combined special crude oil from the region between the Black and Caspian seas with pine resin, though without the original recipe, Greek fire remains one of history's most tantalizing mysteries—one storied enough to inspire George R.R. Martin's wildfire in Game of Thrones.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton