Roman Burning Mirrors

In this set of materials the article explains that usage of burning mirrors against Roman navy in the war between Greeks and Romans was not actually true and it seemed like it was a legendary tale. However, the speaker casts doubt about the information presented in the passage and gives several opposing ideas in support of the existence of burning mirrors.
First the article posits that in order to produce burning mirrors they needed to first manufacture huge sheets of copper to reach to an accurate parabolic shape. However, the ancient Greeks did not possess this technology in those times. On the contrary, the speaker explains that in order to make parabolic shape there is no need for a single sheet of copper and one can create these precise shapes by using small copper pieces together. …show more content…
Thus this is inefficient since Roman ships did not stay for that long time without moving. However, the professor explains that ships were not only made of woods but also they were made of a material called pitch which could be in flames in seconds.
Third, the article explains that ancient Greeks already had flaming arrows. Thus they did not need a new device like burning mirrors which had advantages at the same level as flaming arrows. On the other hand, the listening section claims this idea that Romans were familiar with flaming arrows and they could see arrows when they were coming and they could take an action against it. Conversely, they could not see burning mirrors and suddenly their ships were in flames without noticing it. Therefore, she asserts that this weapon was more effective than flaming