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Study: Archimedes Set Roman Ships Afire with Cannons
LiveScience ^ | June 28, 2010 | Jeremy Hsu

Posted on 07/07/2010 8:20:04 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

Greek inventor Archimedes is said to have used mirrors to burn ships of an attacking Roman fleet. But new research suggests he may have used steam cannons and fiery cannonballs instead.

A legend begun in the Medieval Ages tells of how Archimedes used mirrors to concentrate sunlight as a defensive weapon during the siege of Syracuse, then a Greek colony on the island of Sicily, from 214 to 212 B.C. No contemporary Roman or Greek accounts tell of such a mirror device, however.

Both engineering calculations and historical evidence support use of steam cannons as "much more reasonable than the use of burning mirrors," said Cesare Rossi, a mechanical engineer at the University of Naples "Federico II," in Naples, Italy, who along with colleagues analyzed evidence of both potential weapons.

The steam cannons could have fired hollow balls made of clay and filled with something similar to an incendiary chemical mixture known as Greek fire in order to set Roman ships ablaze. A heated cannon barrel would have converted barely more than a tenth of a cup of water (30 grams) into enough steam to hurl the projectiles.

Channeling steam power

Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci sketched a steam cannon in the late 15th century, which he credited to Archimedes, and several other historical accounts mention the device in connection with Archimedes.

Indirect evidence for the steam cannon also comes from the Greek-Roman historian Plutarch, who tells of a pole-shaped device that forced besieging Roman soldiers to flee at one point from the walls of Syracuse.

The Greek-Roman physician and philosopher Galen similarly mentioned a burning device used against the Roman ships, but used words that Rossi said cannot translate into "burning mirror."

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: archimedes; discoverychannel; godsgravesglyphs; mythbusters; siegeofsyracuse; syracuse
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1 posted on 07/07/2010 8:20:08 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: decimon; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 240B; 24Karet; ...

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It's always been interesting; in the 1980s (I think it was) someone tried making bunches of polished bronze mirrors to try to set a dummy ship on fire using focused sunlight, and it didn't work. Nice that someone is taking the ancients at their word, and I'd hate to see Archimedes Screwed (/rimshot!) out of the credit, but this doesn't seem like any big deal to me, whether true or not. Used a catapault to chuck an incendiary onto attackers, whoa. :')

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

·Dogpile · Archaeologica · Mirabilis.ca · LiveScience · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
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· Archaeology · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


2 posted on 07/07/2010 8:24:11 AM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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To: SunkenCiv

Could this be related, somehow, to so-called “Greek Fire”?


3 posted on 07/07/2010 8:25:18 AM PDT by RexBeach ("Duty is ours; consequences are God's." Thomas "Stonewall" jackson)
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To: SunkenCiv

A recent Mythbusters tried the same thing - a human could stand unprotected in the focus. The shields were just too diffuse.


4 posted on 07/07/2010 8:26:13 AM PDT by Technocrat
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To: SunkenCiv

Steam Punk ping!!! THe Japanese had steam driven weapons in a anime series I am a big fan of.


5 posted on 07/07/2010 8:27:29 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: SunkenCiv
Think for one second. Could the current oppupants of greeco-italian culture possibly get off the government largesse put aside the goodlife long enough to live.die/suffer/die and finally conquer ROMAN legions?

You must be writing Barry's script.

6 posted on 07/07/2010 8:30:14 AM PDT by STD (Oil-Bambi's Revenge and econ 101 by the Father of Facist Capitalism)
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To: RexBeach

Given that the article said “The steam cannons could have fired hollow balls made of clay and filled with something similar to an incendiary chemical mixture known as Greek fire...” I’m going to go out on a limb and say “yes”.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.


7 posted on 07/07/2010 8:32:50 AM PDT by Lee'sGhost (Johnny Rico picked the wrong girl!)
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To: SunkenCiv

archimedes_death_ray


8 posted on 07/07/2010 8:37:14 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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To: SunkenCiv

9 posted on 07/07/2010 8:41:44 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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To: SunkenCiv

Interesting story about Archimedes. The Roman general who was beseiging the city wanted to spare Archimedes but the soldiers found Archimedes working on a math problem and killed him anyway.


10 posted on 07/07/2010 8:44:11 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: JoeProBono

I knew I should have pinged you. :’)

Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a deuce... that’s got something going for it, blind the attackers, then launch the darts, spears, arrows, and other projectiles while they’re disoriented and no one can give the warning to raise shields. Thwack.


11 posted on 07/07/2010 8:45:32 AM PDT by SunkenCiv ("Fools learn from experience. I prefer to learn from the experience of others." -- Otto von Bismarck)
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To: RexBeach; SunkenCiv

Greek Fire from the Chronicle of Ioannis Skylitzis, mid-12th mid-13th century, Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid


12 posted on 07/07/2010 8:51:01 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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To: JoeProBono

Thank you for that article. Once I get home from my deployment, one of these will be built on our AZ property as an intellectual exercise. My five children will get a hoot from it.


13 posted on 07/07/2010 8:51:34 AM PDT by wbarmy (I decided to be a sheepdog when I saw what happens to sheep.)
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To: Lee'sGhost

Oops. Didn’t read far enough! Thanks, Lee.


14 posted on 07/07/2010 8:51:57 AM PDT by RexBeach ("Duty is ours; consequences are God's." Thomas "Stonewall" jackson)
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To: SunkenCiv

Always thought it would be pretty hard to coordinate a group to be able to focus on one spot. Especially at what is probably a moving target.

They are still using Archimedes Screws to draw water from the Nile in Egypt. At least they were in the early 1980’s.


15 posted on 07/07/2010 8:56:06 AM PDT by bigheadfred
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To: SunkenCiv
It would make sense to blind enemy sailors with mirrors while cannons fired hollow flaming shot.

Makes for great confusion if you can't see where you are going. Could have even used the mirrors to “guide” ships into a killing lane.

Since the mirrors couldn't set the ships on fire, blinding the pilots and overheating the crew would make them less efficient at attack.

16 posted on 07/07/2010 8:58:02 AM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: C19fan

17 posted on 07/07/2010 9:01:52 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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To: bigheadfred


18 posted on 07/07/2010 9:05:26 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet - Visualize)
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To: JoeProBono

Exactly. They sit and spin.


19 posted on 07/07/2010 9:07:24 AM PDT by bigheadfred
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To: JoeProBono

It brings a misty eyed tear to recall there was a time when, not only were Americans familiar with the name ‘Archimedes’, but were thought competent enough to handle hot things without warning labels and build cannons.

Those, my friends, were the days!


20 posted on 07/07/2010 9:13:12 AM PDT by pingman (Price is what you pay, value is what you get.)
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