Greek fire did what no sword could. The Byzantine navy pumped it through bronze tubes mounted on ships, igniting the Muslim armada — 1,800 vessels — as it pushed toward Constantinople's sea walls in 717. The fire burned on water. Sailors jumped into the Bosphorus and kept burning. The Arab siege that followed lasted a full year before collapsing, with the army retreating through a brutal Balkan winter that killed thousands more. Constantinople survived another 700 years. Greek fire's exact formula was never written down and remains unknown.
September 1, 717
1309 years ago
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