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This overlaps slightly with this question; That question is more general about statues and can naturally be applied more generally to other historical depictions of important figures. In this question I want to ask specifically about the Alexander Mosaic.

I have been unable to find any reason why we are so confident that the Alexander Mosaic in Pompeii actually depicts Alexander the Great and not some other general/ruler.

Not only do every source I find claim to know who it is, but also which battle it depicts, despite Alexander the Great and Darius III having clashed more than once.. That seems even more farfetched.

How do we know so much about this mosaic?

Avatrin
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    I feel you should point out what kind of information you are looking for that makes this question different from the other one, i.e. what those answers lack in your mind -- because a lot of what was answered there applies here too, which endangers this question to be closed as a duplicate. – DevSolar Feb 08 '24 at 14:17
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    I don't have access to them right now, but from its WP references, it appears this mosaic is analyzed in Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World and in Richard Bradley's essay in Lives of Prehistoric Monuments, so those may be good places to start looking. – T.E.D. Feb 08 '24 at 15:32
  • @DevSolar I have edited it, but I don't agree it's a duplicate. I mean, if this is a duplicate, so would the Aristotle question linked in that one. Yet, they are both up. – Avatrin Feb 08 '24 at 15:48

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Wikipedia article on this mosaic actually contains the answers, if you read it attentively. Of course, one cannot be 100% certain, and the article says that the accepted interpretation is the "most likely" one. The mosaic is believed to be a copy of an earlier Hellenistic painting (which did not survive), but we have descriptions of this painting in the ancient literature. The mosaic shows not only Alexander but also Darius, and we have other depictions of these two personages, so they are recognizable. They met in battles only twice, at Issus and Gaugamela. And the article only states that it is "traditionally believed" to depict the battle of Issus. Of course, nobody can be absolutely certain.

Alex
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    The face on Alexander's coinage looks like the face in the mosaic. – kimchi lover Feb 08 '24 at 16:34
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    After reading the WP notes about the mosaic being a copy of an earlier painting, I wondered whether the painting was identified as being the original because its description says it depicts the Issus battle – in which case using it as evidence would be a circular argument. Do you know details about that correlation that could decide one way or the other? – ccprog Feb 08 '24 at 18:28