The stylistic features of the Alexander The Great mosaic helps reflect the artistic context of

4th and 5th century Ancient Rome, also known as the 'Golden age.' The features such as the
composition, color and highlighting, shading and foreshortening, all help explain
the narrative of the battle of Issus. This mosaic depicts a pivotal moment in the battle of Issus,
between the Macedonians and Persians in 333 BCE, where King Darius (leader of the Persians)
realized his inevitable defeat and tried to flee in his chariot. According to historian Artus P,
"Darius in a moment of panic, considered the battle lost and fled in his chariot." The Alexander
Mosaic was originally laid in late 2 century BC by a group of unknown Greeks, but the original idea
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was taken from a serious of paintings by Helena of Egypt, Philoxenos of Eretria and Aristeides.
Helana of Egypt painted the battle of Issus, Philoxenos of Eretria painted a picture of Alexander
facing Darrius, while Aristeides portrayed a battle between the Macedonians and Persians. This
mosaic was found in the dining room in the house of Vetti and the artwork is made from 1.5 million
tesserae.

The Alexander Mosaic was created in order to explain the narrative of the battle of Issus. The Linear
composition of the Alexander mosaic allows for the 2 leaders of the battle, King Darius and
Alexander the Great to lock eyes, their head promininant in the mosaic as they stick up above all of
the chaos. Alexander The Great leads his people in battle and does not stand above them, he take
a center stage and allowing himself to be a target, his eyes wide but mouth pursed determinedly.
This is contrasted by Darius 'hiding in his chariot, allowing for his men to stand in front of him, to
sacrifice themselves first. This is significant as it shows the difference between the 2 leaders,
Alexander stands within his people, while Darius stand above, this contrasts Darius' dictator like
leadership With Alexander's more hands on leadership. The composition in this piece also helps
explain the emotions of the 2 leaders, as Darius' eyes are open wide in fear as he turns to flee,
showing the Macedonians wining the battle. Composition is just one feature which helps explain the
narrative of Darius' fear of losing this battle, an also helps portray the Macedonians win.

Another feature which helps explain the Battle of Issus' narrative is the colour technique. The
4 colour technique was a feature used by artists in ancient times whien they utilised the colors:
White, yellow, red and black. This technique was very popular during the time period this piece was
created in, and is very prominent in the artwork, with all 4 colours being essential. For example,
white is not massively used in the mosaic, but is placed to show small details, such as the white of
eyes. The white shows the fear in Darius' eyes as it makes the white of his eye balls stand out, while
the white is also used to show the determination to win this battle in Alexander the Great's eyes.
Black is seen through in particular a black horse to the right of the painting. By colouring just 1 or 2
horses black, it symbolises their importance in this battle, especially as they help carry the men into
and out of battle. The colours in this mosaic help narrate the feeling of chaos in this moment, as the
colors overlap each other and there is no feeling of coordination of color, adding to this tone. The
yellow of the Persians uniforms help make them distinct and also don’t allow them to be confused
with the Macedonians side. The artworks chaos of color in the battle field is contrasted by the
backgrounds plain yellow/brown toned colour. The background colour as well as the lack of any
trees, except for one bare one in the centre, helps focus attention on the actual battle and highlights
how large the Persians army was compared to the Macedonians. This helps show the narrative of
how determined the Macedonians were, as though they were smaller in numbers, they were mighty
at heart.

Shading, highlighting and foreshortening were the last features used to make the battle of Issus very
life like, which allowed for the mosaic to accurately explain this story. In this mosaic it is clear to see
Alexanders hair has both been highlighted and shadowed, giving the feel as though it is blowing
in th wind. This may help explain the conditions of this battle, as it illudes to wind, allow it to
be indered that this battle was fought during a cold season. Alexander's face is also highlighted
especially on his cheek bones, symbolizing his youth, compared to Darius, who seems older as
shading creates wrinkles on his forehead. All the horses look more lifelike as the shading under
their hoves make them seem 3D and also help show the different directions they were running in.
Foreshortening is used in this mosaic especially on the horses, in order to show that they are getting
further away/smaller, as they run from the battle. The shading, highlighting and foreshorteinig help
highlight the conditions of this battle and the chaos as the horses run in all different directions. It
also show the Macedonians clear win, as the Persian horses can be seen running away from the
battle, most likely from the orders of the riders.

The features mentioned above such as, composition, colour technique and highlighting, shadowing
and foreshortening, all help explain the story of the Battle of Issus. It helps capture the moment
before the Macedonians won the battle, as we see the Persians fleeing from their defeat. During
Ancient times, owning this mosaic would have shown a persons wealth, as it was a large mosaic,
2.7M x 5.13M, and the bigger mosaics were the more money they cost, and so only wealthy people
owned them. The soldiers on this mosaic reflected not only the battle, but also the determination of
Alexander the Great and his people to win.