Step One: How to see the "Greatness" of Alexander (1:00)
Pictured above is the famous mosaic (artwork made entirely out of small colored stones, or tesserae) known as the “Alexander Mosaic”. It depicts the defeat of Darius III by Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus in 333 BCE. Measuring 8 ft 11in x 16 ft 9in, it was made around 100 BCE by an unknown artist and found in the House of the Faun in Pompeii. It is thought to be a copy of a Hellenistic painting of the 3rd century BCE, when Alexander had lived. Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) – we will just call him Alex the Great from now on – was a Macedonian king and general who conquered all of Greece, all of Persia, Egypt, and much of Central Asia – all before the age of 32. Then he died, under mysterious circumstances. Darius III was King of Persia in the 4th c. BCE. A map of his empire is pictured here.
