The Great War Of Archimedes Today

General Marcellus had given strict orders that Archimedes—whose genius he deeply respected—be taken alive. However, a Roman soldier came upon the 75-year-old mathematician while he was studying geometric figures drawn in the sand.

Though debated by modern skeptics, ancient accounts (like those of Lucian) claim Archimedes used a series of large, polished bronze shields to focus sunlight onto Roman sails, setting the fleet ablaze from a distance. The Great War of Archimedes

During the Second Punic War, the city-state of Syracuse (in modern-day Sicily) broke its alliance with Rome to side with Carthage. Rome, under the command of General Marcus Claudius Marcellus, dispatched a massive fleet and army to crush the rebellion. Syracuse was a formidable fortress, but it had a secret weapon: an aging Archimedes, who had spent decades turning theoretical physics into practical defense. The "Super-Weapons" of Archimedes During the Second Punic War, the city-state of

Archimedes, reportedly annoyed by the interruption, told the soldier, Enraged by the old man's perceived arrogance, the soldier killed him on the spot. Marcellus was said to be devastated by the news and gave Archimedes a burial befitting a hero. Historical Legacy The Fall of Syracuse

The Roman soldiers became so terrified of these "mathematical" attacks that General Marcellus famously remarked, "Archimedes uses our ships to ladle his wine." Plutarch wrote that if the Romans saw so much as a piece of rope or wood projecting over the wall, they would flee in a panic, convinced Archimedes was about to unleash some new mechanical horror. The Fall of Syracuse