Some of Rossi's other work looked at ancient motors that may have moved siege towers used by the Greeks and Romans. Flavio previously built several working reconstructions of ancient Roman artillery weapons, and Ferruccio specializes in 3-D virtual reconstructions of mechanical devices. The trio plan to meet up with other historians in the future and possibly reconstruct versions of the ancient weapons. He previously coauthored the book "Ancient Engineers’ Inventions: Precursors of the Present" (Springer, 2009), along with military historians Flavio Russo and Ferruccio Russo. The steam cannons only represent the latest historical investigation by Rossi. Other records mention earlier versions of the burning mixture. The unknown chemical mixture reportedly burned underwater, and saw most use by the Byzantine Empire that dominated the Eastern Mediterranean starting in A.D.
He added that ancient sailors could have easily put out any fires that started from a slow-burning mirror.īy contrast, Greek fire emerged in many historical accounts as a deadly threat for ancient warships. MIT researchers carried out a similar demonstration more than three decades later in 2005.īut whether mirrors could have maintained a constantly changing curvature to keep the right burning focus on moving ships seems doubtful, Rossi noted.
Past investigations by Greek engineer Joannis Stakas and Evanghelos Stamatis, a historian, showed that a parabolic mirror can set small, stationary wooden ships on fire. "As far as I know, it is the first paper about that use of a steam cannon by Archimedes," Rossi told LiveScience. That allowed the cannons to possibly target troops or ships at distances of approximately 492 feet (150 m) while firing at a fairly flat trajectory to make aiming easier. Rossi calculated that such cannons could have fired a cannonball weighing roughly 13 pounds (6 kilograms) at speeds of roughly 134 miles per hour (60 meters per second). 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."
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. 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.
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