JemmyByzantines dropping straight Greek Fire
submitted by
Meme Curator
PugJesushttps://media.piefed.social/posts/7o/u2/7ou2LpUuNNd5tcd.webp
https://media.piefed.social/posts/7o/u2/7ou2LpUuNNd5tcd.webp
Explanation: The Byzantine Empire, the successor state to the Roman Empire based around the Greek half of the old Empire, was possessed of a curious concoction known as ’Greek Fire’, an incendiary liquid they would use pumps to spray on enemy ships. The mixture, apparently, burned even on water, though the exact composition remains unknown and widely speculated on.
It was considered a very effective - and terrifying - weapon at the time.
@PugJesus
Regarding:
"The Byzantine Empire, the successor state to the Roman Empire"
Isn't that ahistorical?
AFAIK, they didn't think of themselves as a "successor state" — they just considered themselves Roman.
Didn't this view of "Byzantine" as something separate emerge in the 18th century? (Probably motivated by politics?)
They just considered themselves Roman, but so did the Holy Roman Empire, and I wouldn’t regard that as ‘just Rome’ either.
They were considered by Western Europe to be the “Empire of the Greeks”; Byzantine Empire as a specific term arose in the 15th century.