Greek fire

This article is about the weapon. For the band, see Greek Fire (band). For other uses, see Greek fires.

Greek fire
"The Roman fleet burns the opposite fleet down" – An Eastern Roman / Byzantine warship using their "secret weapon" Greek fire against a ship belonging to the rebel Thomas the Slav, AD 821. (12th century illustration from the "Madrid Skylitzes").
Type	incendiary
Place of origin	Eastern Roman Empire
Service history
Used by	Byzantine Empire
Wars	First use in Siege of Constantinople (674–678)
Production history
Designer	Kallinikos
Designed	672 (672)
Developed into	Petroleum-based fire that stayed lit even on water
Variants	The Ship-Mounted Siphon (The "Flamethrower") The Cheirosiphōn (The Handheld Version) Clay and Glass Grenades

Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret and has been lost to history. Historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltpeter, sulfur, or quicklime, but most modern scholars agree that it was based on petroleum mixed with resins, comparable in composition to modern napalm. Byzantine sailors would toss grenades loaded with Greek fire onto enemy ships or spray it from tubes. Its ability to burn on water made it an effective and destructive naval incendiary weapon, and rival powers tried unsuccessfully to copy the material.