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Comment Re:Well, I *was* looking forward to watching this. (Score 1) 416

Remember, attacking warships are going to be moving.

They were anchored according to Lucian.

After that, though, you're back to the attackers wetting their boats down first, using their own shields as mirrors, and having multiple boats.

Wetting them down first is exactly what they did, and that kept flaming arrows from burning them, but focused light can dry ships out. Focused light that can light wood on fire in seconds can dry wood out pretty damn quickly. I'm not quite sure what your point is about multiple boats.

Even getting the attacking boats to lose synchronization on their landing could make a big difference in the fight.

Landing? Syracusae (at least the core of the city, Ortygia) was an island surrounded by huge walls. There was nowhere to land. Besides, Archimedes also built long, medium, and short rang artillery ensuring that by the time any attacker got to the walls, they were pretty much already defeated.

Comment Re:Well, I *was* looking forward to watching this. (Score 1) 416

Last time they "debunked" it, they used 127 square feet of mirrors. If they use 500 typical hoplite shields (~24" diameter), that's 1,570 square feet. Even if the kids all have a 1 sqft mirror, that's quadruple the intensity the mythbusters debunked last time, or roughly equivalent to Ioannis Sakkas's experiment which set the wood on fire in mere seconds.

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