The Sci-Fi Weapon Used In 212 BCE To Torch an Enemy Fleet
Archimedes’ Death Ray
In 213 BCE, the Roman Republic laid siege to the prominent city of Syracuse on the island of Sicily. The siege took place during the Second Punic War. During the First Punic War, Rome seized Syracuse and got its first taste of empire. It was a taste that they would not soon forget. In the years since the First Punic War, Syracuse had regained its independence but now found itself once again surrounded by Roman forces. Rome was busy fighting Carthage, and Syracuse had few remaining allies in the region. Rome hoped for a quick victory, but Syracuse had a secret weapon of its own — an aging mathematician.
Living within Syracuse’s prominent walls was the polymath Archimedes. Archimedes was a special mind and a pillar of his time. During the siege, Archimedes pivoted from pondering about the esoteric equations of higher mathematics and began developing special defensive weapons for the city. Archimedes’ intelligence was legendary, and his inventions would also go down in history as legends in their own right.
One such invention was an array of parabolic mirrors that were deployed to hinder the Romans’ attempts to blockade the city. The siege was not a quick one, as Rome had hoped. Instead, Rome was forced to surround the city and attempt to choke it off from the…
