Battle of Issus (mosaic)

The mosaic was discovered on October 24, 1831 during excavations of ancient Pompeii in Italy on the floor of one of the premises of the House of Faunus and was transferred in 1843 to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples , where it is still stored. At first the mosaic was laid out on the floor, as in its original form; Around 1913, a mosaic was placed on the wall for a better view. A copy of the mosaic was laid out on the floor of Faun's house in 2005 . The dimensions of the grandiose picture are 313 × 582 cm, but some of the fragments were not preserved.

The linotorax (armor) of Alexander depicted on the mosaic was reconstructed in Oliver Stone's film Alexander . The armor is decorated on the chest with a gorgoneion , the image of the head of the gorgon of Medusa . The part of the mosaic, which depicts Alexander’s bodyguards from the Getaires, has not been preserved, and only the Boeotian helmet of the Getaire with a gilded wreath conveys the appearance of the famous ancient horsemen. Also damaged is a fragment depicting the standard of the Persian troops.

Mosaic depicts the battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian king Darius III . Compositionally, Darius dominates the center of the picture. His eyes, wide-open with horror, are directed to the left, where Alexander’s spear pierces one of the bodyguards of the Persian king. With his right hand, the dying man is still trying to grab the lethal weapon, as if he wants to take it out of his body, but his legs are already giving way, and he is lowering himself onto his bleeding black horse. Darius himself with a bewildered face, unarmed, is trying to deploy his chariot. His outstretched, but in vain right hand and desperate look are addressed to the mortally wounded warrior who rushed between him and the attacking Alexander. However, both the look and gesture of Darius equally apply to the approaching Alexander. The Persian king himself has already stopped fighting and therefore becomes a passive victim in an atmosphere of all-encompassing horror.

The Macedonian king, on the contrary, most actively determines events on the battlefield. Alexander without a helmet , in luxurious linen armor, riding on his Bucephalus, he pierces the body of the enemy with a spear, without even casting a glance at his victim. His wide open eyes are focused on Daria; even the gorgon's gaze on his gorgoneion is turned towards the frightened enemy, as if trying to further strengthen this powerful hypnotic effect.

The portrait of Alexander corresponds to the so-called Lisippian type, to which, for example, the statue of the head of Alexander from the Louvre is reckoned. There is no traditional idealization of Alexander, who was often portrayed with long curls and full, soft facial features as the embodiment of the image of Zeus , the sun god Helios or Apollo .

Around Alexander, only a few Macedonians can be recognized by their helmets similar to caps - including due to the destruction of the mosaic. However, the predominant part of the picture - about three quarters of the entire area - is assigned to the Persians. The Persians wear Central Asian-style armor, similar to scales or shells from records. They cover the whole body and consist of iron or bronze sticks of a rectangular shape, tied together at the top, bottom or sides by cords. Depicted in a very bold perspective, one of the Persians is trying to curb a frightened horse right in front of Darius; probably this horse belonged to one of the fallen to the ground warriors. The face of the dying man, on which Darius’s chariot is just bumping, is reflected in his shield; this is the only face on the mosaic whose eyes are fixed on the viewer.

Graphic means in the mosaic reflect the turning point of the battle. On the one hand, the superiority of Alexander is shown. His royal posture and composure, which are reflected in his wide-open eye and in the spear piercing the enemy’s body, have such a stunning and overwhelming effect on his opponents that they flee in panic. On the other hand, the position of the body of Darius, the three Persians fighting in front of him, the numerous spears directed at an angle to the left and up, still reflect the original line of advance of the Persians, which pays tribute to the enemy of the Macedonians. At the same time, three spears at the right edge of the mosaic indicate movement in the opposite direction. The oncoming movement of these enemy lines is repeated, by the way, in many respects in the trunk and branches of a bare tree.

The interpretation of the battle in the mosaic coincides with the historical information available to us: in both general battles of the campaign in Asia (under Issus and Gaugamela , Alexander decided the outcome of the battle by decisive tactical maneuver. In each case, he rushed into enemy offensive lines surrounded by his horse-drawn guards; resistance to such a sudden attack and completely unexpectedly appeared in front of Darius, who then fled.

Evidence that the mosaic depicts the plot of the battle of Issus was not found (except for similar descriptions of the battle of Arrian and Curtius ). Perhaps the symbolic battle is not tied to any particular battle, but is intended to glorify the exploits of Alexander in the Asian campaign, to present a typology of his victory.

In the sense of iconography, resemblance to mosaics has a relief on the royal Sidon sarcophagus (4th century BC), which also depicts the battle between Alexander and the Persians; probably, both monuments go back to the common source. The Pompeian work is considered a copy of the masters of the Alexandrian school of mosaic from a picturesque ancient Greek canvas, executed in a different technique. The Greek original was apparently mentioned by the ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder ("Natural History", 35.110) as a work commissioned by the Macedonian king Kassandra , done by Philoxenus of Eretria, a Greek artist of the late 4th century. BC e. The timing of the creation of the picture, made from literary data, is confirmed by the manner of execution with a limited set of colors used and the method of drawing characteristic of early Hellenistic time.

• Kleiner, Fred S. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Global History. - Cengage Learning, 2008 .-- S. 142. - ISBN 0495115495 .
• Bernard Andreae: Das Alexandermosaik . Reclam, Stuttgart 1967.
• Michael Pfrommer: Untersuchungen zur Chronologie und Komposition des Alexandermosaiks auf antiquarischer Grundlage . von Zabern, Mainz 1998 (Aegyptiaca Treverensia. Trierer Studien zum griechisch-römischen Ägypten 8), ISBN 3-8053-2028-0 .
• Klaus Stähler: Das Alexandermosaik. Über Machterringung und Machtverlust . Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-596-13149-9 .
• Paolo Moreno, La Bataille d'Alexandre , Skira / Seuil, Paris, 2001.

• Battle of Alexander // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Mosaic reconstruction