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"Instant antique for stainless-steel warriors!"
#16
On the History Channel last night they were giving a program on ancient machines/inventions. One segment talked about the Archimedes "death ray" in which he had soldiers polish their shields to a mirror finish in order to redirect sunlight onto Roman ships and set them on fire :!: Confusedhock:

Then some archeologists did an experiment to see if such a thing was possible and apparently it is. But the account could still be the stuff of legend.

My point for bringing this up is that there are apparently some ancient references to shinning armor to a mirrior finish. I don't have the original source for this one episode with Archimedes and the siege of Syracuse. Maybe someone can dig up the exact passage and post it here.
Jaime
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#17
I thought they had just stationed large mirrors on their walls and towers and used those to light the enemy ships, I did not know they used polished pieces of armor...
Jef Pinceel
a.k.a.
Marcvs Mvmmivs Falco

LEG XI CPF vzw
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www.LEGIOXI.be
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#18
Quote:I thought they had just stationed large mirrors on their walls and towers and used those to light the enemy ships, I did not know they used polished pieces of armor...

I don't know if the Greeks or Romans even had mirrors.

But from my understanding of the story : shields were polished to a mirror finish to reflect the sun's rays through a giant glass that was properly aimed at the ships. The glass piece would intesify the reflected rays to lethal degrees. Sounds fantastic, but I have an open mind on the subject.

If our Greek speaking members have access to the original sources maybe they can translate the exact passage and tell us if polished shields were in fact used.
Jaime
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