But the most significant aspect of this little ivory head is when it was made. It was placed in this tomb. That means that it was made before Philip died, before Alexander became king. In other words, archeologists realized for the first time the Alexander's image's been designed for him before he fought a single battle against the Persians. Between them, Philip Alexander had already come up with the winning image, an image to take on the world.
But how exactly would Alexander exploit the power of this image, and portray himself as a leader strong enough to unite an empire? The answer of that was found buried under tons of lava, on the foot of a volcano, the volcano that buried the Roman town of Pompeii, mt. Versuvius.
The Romans loved Greek art. And in one of the villas in Pompeii was a mosaic, the copy of an original Macedonian painting from Alexander's time. It's now in the archeological museum of Naples. The mosaic depicts the famous battle in which Alexander finally defeated the Persian armies.
This is Alexander charging full tilt in the thick of the battle. His eyes are fixed on his mortal enemy, the Persian king.
Alexander is shown in the heat of action, leading his troops spear in the hand. He wears no helmet, his hair flying back, a fearless hero leading from the front. And the impact of this image is even greater when u look across to the other side of the mosaic.
Look at the face of the great Persian king. It's a study of panic and fear. He can't get away quick enough. So the whole of this political poster, offers us a clear choice. Do u go for the brave heart, or the coward, the hero or the villain. It's a collision of values, in which Alexander is predestined for victory.
Alexander has discovered he could use this portrait to persuade his new subjects that he was invincible. It's an image to inspire admiration and respect. Here was a man who could unite the empire and was worthy of replacing the king of Persia.
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New words:
take on 征服
villa n. 别墅，小屋
portray v. 描绘
mosaic n. 马赛克
full tilt 全速的
in the thick of 在...之中
coward n. 懦夫
villain n. 坏人
mortal adj. 临终的
predestine v. 注定