Greek Fire Essays - Incendiary Weapons, Medieval Artillery, Europe

Greek Fire ?GREEK FIRE? The original Greek fire was an invention used as a weapon of the Eastern Roman Emperors. It is also said to have been invented by a Syrian engineer, one Callinicus, a refugee from Maalbek, in the seventh century. The Byzantines of Constantinople originally used it. But they never used the term Greek fire because they claimed to be Romans, and never called themselves Greeks. It was like an insult to them because in their times to be Greek was to have a bad reputation. The Greek fire was first time used in the war of seven years. In which the Arabs established a naval base on the peninsula of Kyzikos. This was on the second attack of a battle started by Theophanes. On the third attack of the same battle, Greek fire was used again against the Arabs. The ?liquid fire? was hurled on the ships of their enemies from siphons and burst into flames on contact. As it was reputed to be inextinguishable and burned even on water, it caused panic and dread. Its introduction into warfare of its time was comparable in its demoralizing to the introduction of nuclear weapons in our time. Both Arab and Greek sources agree that it surpassed all incendiary weapons in destruction. It is also possible that Greek fire was really invented by the chemist in Constantinople who had acquired the discoveries of the Alexandrian chemical school. An Emperor, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, said that the recipe for Greek fire had been revealed by an angel to Constantine the Great, and that the earliest chemists called their science ?the divine art.? Constantine Porphyrogenitus (tenth century) in his instruction to his son had commanded him emphatically to keep the composition secret: ?The secret had in the past been given by an angel to Constantine the Great, those imparting it were anathema, and one about to communicate it had been struck by lightning. Anna Komnena (b.1083), the gifted but vain daughter of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, gives the composition of an incendiary material: ?This fire made by the following arts. From the pines and the certain such evergreen trees inflammable resin is collected. This is rubbed with sulfur and put into tubes of reed, and is blowing by men using it with violent and continuos breath. Then in this manner it meets the fire on the tip and catches light and falls like a fiery whirlwind on the faces of the enemies.? She also says it was used in the siege of Durazzo in 1108, when the Normans under Bohemond had mined under the walls, and the Byzantines had countermined until they reached the sap, when the appearance produced by these pyrotechnics would be terrifying but not very dangerous. The Normans, she said, had their beards signed but were not much injured. Kedrenos reported that in his time (eleventh century) the secret of the fire was possessed by Lampros, a descendant of Kallinikos. The state chemist who had the recipe, a secret not to put into writing, no doubt took an oath not to divulge it. And the Emperor, who lent troops and engines to his allies, reserved for himself the secret of Greek fire, and sent it already made as a sort of ancient hydrogen bomb to his worthy but not wholly reliable dependants. It was thought that the secret of Greek fire had been lost; a Dupre, born in Dauphine, claimed to have rediscovered it, and sold the recipe to Louis XV in 1756. The secret was in reality never lost, and Greek fire only slowly made way to artillery and gunpowder; in the earlier stages both Greek fire and cannon were sometimes used together. Greek fire, like hydrogen bomb, was not prerogative of angels or emperors; a chemist, and further east, in Saracen lands had discovered it. There were other chemists no less inventive. The secret behind the Greek fire was handed down from one emperor to the next for the centuries. Rumors about its composition include such chemicals as liquid petroleum, naphtha, burning pitch, sulfur, resin quicklimeand bitumen, along with some other secret ingredient. The exact composition, however, remains unknown. Bibliography the history of Greek fire and Gunpowder

The Sedition Act of 1798 essays

The Sedition Act of 1798 essays For the first few years of Constitutional government, under the leadership of George Washington, there was a unity, commonly called Federalism that even James Madison (the future architect of the Republican Party) acknowledged in describing the Republican form of government " And according to the degree of pleasure and pride we feel in being republicans, ought to be our zeal in cherishing the spirit and supporting the character of Federalists." Although legislators had serious differences of opinions, political unity was considered absolutely essential for the stability of the nation.Political parties or factions were considered evil as "Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority_" Public perception of factions were related to British excesses and thought to be "the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished." James Madison wrote in Federalist Papers #10, "By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community." He went on to explain that faction is part of human nature; "that the CAUSES of faction cannot be removed, and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its EFFECTS." The significant point Madison was to make in this essay was that the Union was a safeguard against factions in...

Final project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 6

Final project - Essay Example The analytical skills and in-depth knowledge about the topic or discipline in question defines a consultant. Similarly, businesses have consultants who specialize in investigating and evaluating business challenges and propose the best solutions and approaches through which they can be curbed. Business consulting has been extensively used as a tool of development and has since transformed many firms. Businesses are becoming more successful through consulting. The approach that business consultants as well as their clients are currently giving consultation is not exactly the same as that of the past. Consulting in business has deep-rooted history as it did not just start the other day. However, there are modifications and changes that have been effected which have undoubtedly benefited the business fraternity. The main difference between the traditional and the new consulting systems is on the approach the two take. The ancient one focused more on the issue or problem at hand while the modern approaches are much more oriented to outcomes. Results matter more than the problem and effectiveness is preferred to efficiency. Business consultants in the contemporary society recognize that giving a single permanent approach to an issue is misleading with the changing times hence tackling an issue as it presents itself is much more tactful and effective. It is this realization that have informed the consultants that whatever the approach or strat egy they used in one organization or company and was successful may not necessarily solve another company’s problems. This is because different factors such organizational structure, human resource and customers’ dynamics, industry and level competition among others (Brooks & Edwards, n.d., p. 24). There are several changes that have been identified in the business consulting framework. The sustainability of business