Units of History - Byzantine Fire Ships

[dexter]

This animated documentary is part of our Units of History series covering elements of the Byzantine Army and more. In this episode we explore the Fire Ship super weapons which saved the Byzantine Empire.

The documentary begins with a look at the history of incendiary weapons. This stretches from the Assyrian Army to the Indian, Sassanid, Greek, and Roman forces as well. Specifically however we focus on the emergence of Naptha and Greek Fire. This technology came at a critical moment when the Byzantine Empire was being overrun by the Arab Conquests and would prove to be their savior.

In the equipment section we cover how the greek fire siphons were built and how they were mounted on Byzantine Dromons. We then turn to their tactical use in battle before covering their service history. This includes critical action during the numerous times when invaders tried to execute a siege of Constantinople. We cover the Arab Siege of Constantinople in the 8th century as well as the Kievan Rus attack on the city in the later 10th century.