Bonekickers

History behind ‘The Eternal Fire’: Similar to Greek Fire?

The Byzantines employed ‘Greek fire’ as a weapon that used burning liquids from the sixth century AD. While there are descriptions about the use of Greek fire, there is little evidence about its actual chemistry that probably employed some form of heavy petroleum or resin, sulphur, saltpeter and quicklime.

A possible Greek fire workshop was excavated in Syria from the Islamic period, and the archaeologists found there what they believed to be grenades, together with the deposits of asphalt, and vessels to suggest primitive distillation to make naphtha.

There are occasional references to the use of the use of fire in warfare before the invention of Greek fire, including flaming spears and ceramic vessels that could have be grenades. Indeed the vessels used in this episode were based on an actual find of a mystery object from Roman Bath!