Gladius Hispaniensis Posted August 10, 2009 Report Share Posted August 10, 2009 Ave The Arab fleet that attacked Constantinople in 674 C.E may not have been that poorly armed after all. Here is a part of the poem written by Theodosius Grammaticus celebrating the Byzantine victory: Where are the twin decked, fire throwing ships, and again, the single decked ships, also swift in the battle step? That single line seems to indicate that the Arabs may have used a form of Greek Fire, which was, after all, invented by a refugee from Baalbek in Lebanon. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurion-Macro Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 But if they used Greek fire at Sea, would not the sea catch fire? (I do not know anything about how Greek fire works so I am probably wrong here). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladius Hispaniensis Posted August 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 But if they used Greek fire at Sea, would not the sea catch fire? (I do not know anything about how Greek fire works so I am probably wrong here). The Byzantines usually used siphons mounted on ships to throw the Greek Fire at their opponents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 AveThe Arab fleet that attacked Constantinople in 674 C.E may not have been that poorly armed after all. Here is a part of the poem written by Theodosius Grammaticus celebrating the Byzantine victory: Where are the twin decked, fire throwing ships, and again, the single decked ships, also swift in the battle step? That single line seems to indicate that the Arabs may have used a form of Greek Fire, which was, after all, invented by a refugee from Baalbek in Lebanon. Any thoughts? If you already have the article of David Olster Theodosius Grammaticus and the Arab siege of 674-78 from Byzantinoslavica 56 (1), pg 23-28, 1995, you probably know more on this issue than most people here. If that's not the case, that article is a must for you; a copy can be ordered from that link . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladius Hispaniensis Posted August 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 AveThe Arab fleet that attacked Constantinople in 674 C.E may not have been that poorly armed after all. Here is a part of the poem written by Theodosius Grammaticus celebrating the Byzantine victory: Where are the twin decked, fire throwing ships, and again, the single decked ships, also swift in the battle step? That single line seems to indicate that the Arabs may have used a form of Greek Fire, which was, after all, invented by a refugee from Baalbek in Lebanon. Any thoughts? If you already have the article of David Olster Theodosius Grammaticus and the Arab siege of 674-78 from Byzantinoslavica 56 (1), pg 23-28, 1995, you probably know more on this issue than most people here. If that's not the case, that article is a must for you; a copy can be ordered from that link . That sounds priceless. Thanks for that. I'll order a copy as soon as I have a fuller pocket! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DecimusCaesar Posted August 13, 2009 Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 AveThe Arab fleet that attacked Constantinople in 674 C.E may not have been that poorly armed after all. Here is a part of the poem written by Theodosius Grammaticus celebrating the Byzantine victory: Where are the twin decked, fire throwing ships, and again, the single decked ships, also swift in the battle step? That single line seems to indicate that the Arabs may have used a form of Greek Fire, which was, after all, invented by a refugee from Baalbek in Lebanon. Any thoughts? If you already have the article of David Olster Theodosius Grammaticus and the Arab siege of 674-78 from Byzantinoslavica 56 (1), pg 23-28, 1995, you probably know more on this issue than most people here. If that's not the case, that article is a must for you; a copy can be ordered from that link . That sounds priceless. Thanks for that. I'll order a copy as soon as I have a fuller pocket! I'm not sure about Greek fire, but the arabs did make use of Naptha 'bombs', although I'm not so sure they used them during the Siege of Constantinople in 674. They were definately in use by the 12th-13th century though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurion-Macro Posted August 17, 2009 Report Share Posted August 17, 2009 But if they used Greek fire at Sea, would not the sea catch fire? (I do not know anything about how Greek fire works so I am probably wrong here). The Byzantines usually used siphons mounted on ships to throw the Greek Fire at their opponents. Really? did it work well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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