1-152-244 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Archimedes' Burning Mirror, device used at the Siege of Syracuse, 215-212 BC (1642). A military engine devised by the Ancient Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes, said to have been used to set fire to attacking Roman ships taking part in the siege of Syracuse. With the aid of various machines designed by Archimedes, the city held out against the Romans for 3 years. Archimedes was killed when the city was finally captured. From Apiaria by Marius Bettinus, 1642.