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Antiquities

E48.114

Fragment of mould used to form decorated Samian-ware pottery. 1st century AD.

Alexander the Great succeeded his father as king of Macedonia and when he was only twenty he unified and led a League of Greek city states in a war against the Persian Empire. He conquered a vast empire spreading Greek civilisation to Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran (Persia), Afghanistan and northwest India, where the influence of Greek art is still evident. Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, aged only 32 or 33, so his image is always of a young man. This marble head is a rare portrait of Alexander from the Persian part of his empire (Parthian Kish). It is not known what sort of monument the portrait decorated. Alexander's image was repeatedly changed into the current style of the time, and this practice allows us to date this head to about 200 BC. The upswept hair and the turn of the head were typical of his portraits. Marble. Approximately 200 BC