A Good Place to Start for the Curious
Partington must have been multi-lingual, because his book is filled with the original Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, and German in which many of the old records about incendiary weapons were written and he doesn’t always give a translation, though he gives the sense of the evidence in the context of his argument.
Partington references hundreds of original sources, quibbles over the interpretations of translators, and either accepts or refutes the arguments of scholars both modern and ancient. This is not breakfast reading; this is for hard-core scholars. Still, I was able to mine and distill some fascinating information from his very well-researched book.
I present here the brief history of Greek fire.
Greek Fire & Incendiaries in History
Mr. Partington’s discussion covers not on only Greek fire but also similar incendiaries that are sometimes mistaken for Greek fire, and I found that the study of the one illuminated the understanding of the other.
For instance, I learned that many ancient records allude to a substance that inflamed upon contact with water, a phenomenon that was so impressive that the substance was used in temple fires and magic rituals.
Some records, such as the II Maccabees, even claim that a substance was poured over the altar and burst into flame when the sun shone upon it; a mixture of quicklime, petroleum and water, or naphtha, water, and quicklime would have produced such an effect. This substance was used in the annual lighting of lamps in the Sepulchre at Jerusalem, begun in the eighth or ninth century (p. 6).
Other incendiaries, such as pyrites, were used to create impressive “thunderbolt” effects, used in religious and magical rites (p. 10).
The Lost Recipe
- It was liquid petroleum or naptha.
- It was liquid pitch.
- It was a mixture of pitch, resin, and sulfur.
- It was a mixture of quicklime, sulfur, and other flammable materials such as naphtha, resin, and bitumen.
- It was something similar to one of the above, but with an added “secret ingredient” now lost to our knowledge.
What Makes Greek Fire Different
(I have to wonder how ancient defenders discovered that last extinguisher!)
Because Greek fire was a liquid, it could also be sprayed with a hose-like apparatus, pressured by a hand-pump. Some ancient records also mention mouth-blown blow-pipes being used as flame-throwers for Greek fire (p. 19). Interestingly, some ships were equipped with metal tubes, some with brass figureheads, through which Greek fire could be force-pumped. On this point, Mr. Partington introduces a fascinating paraphrase translation:
The front part of the ship had a bronze tube so arranged that the prepared fire could be projected forward to left or right and also made to fall from above. This tube was mounted on a false floor above the deck on which the specialist troops were accommodated and so raised above the attacking forces assembled in the prow. The fire was thrown either on the enemy’s ships or in the faces of the attacking troops.(p. 18)
Ancient Stories of Greek Fire
In this battle…the Russian flotilla of several thousand ships was defeated by fifteen semifracta chelandria, which threw liquid fire on all sides, from the prow, the stern and the sides…and the Russians, rather than burn, threw themselves into the sea; those weighted down by their armour were drowned, and those who were able to swim were burnt. It was extinguished only by vinegar” (p. 18).
It seems that initially the Arabs were on the receiving end of Greek fire’s destruction and were probably not the inventors of it (p. 22), but soon learned to make and use it to deadly effect. In fact, their army during some point in the Crusades included special “naphtha troops” who were well-trained in incendiary warfare (p. 22). One Arab account by Baha’ al-din (which Partington thankfully translates) describes the famous siege of Acre in the Third Crusade with this interesting anecdote:
“Then a young man from Damascus, a founder by trade, promised to burn the towers [of the Christians] if he were admitted to the town. This was agreed upon, he entered Acre, and was given the necessary materials. He boiled naphtha and other drugs together in copper pots (marmites). As soon as these things were properly inflamed, when in a word they looked just like balls of fire, he threw them against a tower, which at once caught fire… The second tower was also inflamed, and then the third…
As the danger increased, two arrows, like those shot from great machines, were taken, and fire put on the tips so that they shone like torches. This double-arrow was shot against a machine and fortunately it stuck fast. The enemy attempted in vain to put out the fire, since a strong wind arose… The man from Damascus, in order to deceive the Christians, first threw pots with naphtha and other things, not kindled, against one of the towers, which produced no effect.
The Christians, full of confidence, climbed triumphantly to the highest stage of the tower, calling out in derision. The man from Damascus, waiting until the contents of the pots had soaked into the tower, at the right moment threw on to it a well-burning pot. At once fire broke out over the whole tower and it was destroyed. The fire was so quick that the Christians had no time to climb down and they and their weapons were all burnt up. The other two towers were similarly destroyed” (p. 24-25).
Source Cited
Partington, J. R. A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder. Cambridge: w. Heffer & Sons, Ltd., 1960. Print.