Alexander Mosaic
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| Artist | Mosaicist unknown |
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| Year | c. 100 BC |
| Type | Mosaic |
| Dimensions | 272 cm × 513 cm (8 ft 11 in × 16 ft 9 in) |
| Location | National Archaeological Museum, Naples |
 Smarthistory - Alexander Mosaic.
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The Alexander Mosaic, dating from circa 100 BC, is a Roman floor mosaic originally from the House of the Faun in Pompeii. It depicts a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia and measures 2.72 by 5.13 metres (8 ft 11 in × 16 ft 10 in). The original is preserved in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. The mosaic is believed to be a copy of an early 3rd-century BC Hellenistic painting.
The mosaic illustrates a battle in which Alexander faced and attempted to capture or kill Darius. Alexander defeated him at the Battle of Issus and two years later at the Battle of Gaugamela. The work is traditionally believed to show the Battle of Issus.
Since the mosaic emulates the appearance of a painting so accurately, it has been uniformly agreed that the mosaic is a copy of an original Hellenistic Greek painting. The mosaic is held to be a copy either of a painting by Aristides of Thebes, or of a lost late 4th-century BC fresco by the painter Philoxenus of Eretria. The latter is mentioned by Pliny the Elder (XXXV, 110) as a commission for the Macedonian king Cassander.
Despite being damaged, the two main figures are easy to recognize.
The Persian soldiers behind him have expressions of determination and consternation.
Darius's brother Oxyathres is also portrayed, sacrificing himself to save the King.
Radical foreshortening – as in the central horse, seen from behind – and the use of shading to convey a sense of mass and volume enhance the naturalistic effect of the scene. Repeated diagonal spears, clashing metal, and the crowding of men and horses evoke the din of battle. At the same time, action is arrested by dramatic details such as the fallen horse and the Persian soldier in the foreground who watches his own death throes reflected in a shield.
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