Callinicus of Heliopolis (600–700)

Born 600 CE, died 700 CE.

Callinicus of Heliopolis (Medieval Greek: Καλλίνικος fl. 620 AD) was a Byzantine architect and alchemist of Jewish or Egyptian origin. He is credited with the invention of Greek fire, the premodern precedent of the flamethrower. According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, he arrived in Byzantium in the time of Constantine IV and shared his knowledge of liquid fire with the Byzantines. Callinicus’ exact formula was a carefully guarded secret, and remains unknown today. Possible ingredients include resin, asphalt, sulfur, naphtha, fine quicklime, and calcium phosphide.

Text from the Wikipedia article Callinicus_of_Heliopolis, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Everything else in 600 CE

HistoryLayer draws the world as it was in any year from 123,000 BCE to 2026. Move the slider and the borders redraw for that year; the map carries 23,890 events, 12,790 people, 837 wars and 13,183 cities, each one readable in place. Signing in is optional and lets you keep what you find.

HistoryLayer is an interactive map of world history: pick any year from 123,000 BCE to 2026 and the borders, events and people of that moment are drawn for you. It needs JavaScript to draw the map. The guide, the sources and licences and the privacy page are readable without it.

HistoryLayer

1914CE

World Wars

123,000 BCE2026 CE

54 stops — one per surviving map on file, evenly spaced drag the pin · ←→ steps one stop the same 54 stops by true elapsed time ↑

Map & filters

Show on the map

Filter

Colour by

Polity Empire

Callinicus of Heliopolis (600–700)

Saved · 0