The burning mirrors, together with other surprising war machines, were allegedly used by Archimedes during the siege of Syracuse by the Romans.
The only explicit references to the burning mirrors can be found in the lost work of the Latin historian Cassius Dio, which has been passed down to the present day through the compendia and summaries of two medieval chroniclers.
The mirror had a hexagonal shape and was formed by several small elementary mirrors.
The instrument was moved around by groups of four or six people and operated by ropes and pulleys that pointed the central part towards the sun’s rays and directed them at enemy ships, causing a fire that spread easily.
