Alexander Mosaic

The Alexander Mosaic is a Roman floor mosaic from Pompeii, dating to around 100 BCE. Measuring approximately 5.82 by 3.13 meters, it depicts the Battle of Issus (333 BCE) between Alexander the Great and the Persian King Darius III. The work was discovered in 1831 in the House of the Faun, one of Pompeii's largest private residences.

Composed of approximately 1.5 million tiny tesserae (stone tiles less than 4mm wide), the mosaic employs the opus vermiculatum technique. This method arranges tiles in wormlike curves rather than straight rows, allowing for notable detail and smooth color gradations. Only four colors were used: white, yellow, red, and black.

Scholars believe the mosaic copies a late fourth-century Greek painting, possibly by Philoxenus of Eretria or Apelles. Pliny the Elder praised the original work in his Natural History. The mosaic was transported to Naples in 1843 and now resides at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. An exact replica created by Ravenna artisans has been installed at Pompeii.