Constantinople was besieged by the Arabs in 674–678, in what was the first culmination of the Umayyad Caliphate's expansionist strategy against the Byzantine Empire. Caliph Mu'awiya I, who had emerged
Europe, the Byzantine Empire and the Umayyad empire c. 650
Gold nomisma of Constantine IV
The Golden Gate of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople
Depiction of the use of Greek fire, from the Madrid Skylitzes. It was used for the first time during the first Arab siege of Constantinople, in 677 or 678.
Greek fire
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Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The recipe for Greek fire was a closely-guarded state secret and has been lost to history
Siege of Constantinople (674–678)
…fortifications. Finally the Byzantines, under Emperor Constantine IV, destroyed the Arab navy using a new invention, the liquid incendiary substance known as Greek fire. The Byzantines also defeated the Arab land army in Asia Minor, forcing them to lift the siege. The Byzantine victory was of major importance for the…
Use of a cheirosiphōn ("hand-siphōn"), a portable flamethrower, used from a flying bridge against a castle. Illumination from the Poliorcetica of Hero of Byzantium.
Proposed reconstruction of the Greek fire mechanism by Haldon and Byrne
Detail of a cheirosiphōn