They Created Greek Fire

If you've never heard of Greek fire, or if you have, you've probably heard of wildfire from the HBO show Game of Thrones. It's fire that burns even on water, essentially a weird and alchemical form of napalm. In a fantasy-based TV series, it's really cool, and it's also influenced by Greek fire stories. Historians believe it was invented in the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century. Greek fire might be thrown in clay pots or shot out of a tube like a flamethrower. It was sticky and couldn't be extinguished with water, just like napalm or Wildfire from Game of Thrones.

In the 670s, Greek fire was famously utilized to protect Constantinople from an Arab fleet. Strangely, Greek Fire vanished from history in the 15th century. It is thought to have been built by a Jewish immigrant named Callinicus of Heliopolis. They maintained the recipe a well guarded secret, and then it appears to have vanished. They may now make educated suggestions about what Greek Fire was, which most likely included petroleum, naphtha, quicklime, and sulphur, but they are just that: guesses.