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Hi Constantine, I'll get to this one today. - Dank (push to talk) 14:19, 30 January 2016 (UTC)

Precious again, your battle, "one of the few where we have a complete description of its course and the manoeuvrings of the opposing armies"!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:41, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Gerda Arendt, much appreciated! Best regards, Constantine ✍ 09:11, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for your support

Peacemaker67 RfA Appreciation award
Thank you for participating and supporting at my RfA. It was very much appreciated, and I am humbled that the community saw fit to trust me with the tools. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 05:00, 6 February 2016 (UTC)

Khuzayma ibn Khazim

Hi Constantine. Do you remember the entire bibliographical source for Hisbein (1992) that you used on Khuzayma ibn Khazim?--Renato de carvalho ferreira (talk) 05:36, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Hi Renato, it was just a typo for "Fishbein". Thanks for pointing it out. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 08:55, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Advice request

Hi Constantine (and late happy new year). I'd like to have your advice: some articles I follow are constantly disruptively edited by a dynamic ip (same country of origin, same profil of edits, different ip every day) and I don't know if it is possible to ask a blocking on the DUCK principle nor how to do it (which board to ask? Sockpupettry request first? or ask directly an admin?). Do you know what to do in these cases? Cheers.--Phso2 (talk) 08:15, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

Hello Phso2, and likewise belated wishes for a happy new year. Well, if it is a dynamic IP there is no point in blocking, except if they are within a narrow range. In that case a SPI on DUCK principles would suffice. Otherwise the only solution is to ask for temporary protection of these articles to interrupt the disruption. From my experience in similar cases, from the moment the protection begins, it rarely lasts more than a week or so before the other party gives it up, although they may periodically resurface after a few months, in which case do the same. It is tiresome, but against dynamic IPs it is the only remedy. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 08:26, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
OK, so I'll have to convince an admin to have a look. Thanks--Phso2 (talk) 14:34, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

Sock puppetry

Hi, regarding your recent reverts please see Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/PavelStaykov#13 February 2016.--Crovata (talk) 15:25, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

Map obsession

It appears that a variety of maps is in favor of a specific pov. I've commented in talk:First Bulgarian Empire [[1]], where a newly created account insist on a collection of not so accurate maps.Alexikoua (talk) 12:52, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

Quick way to have a article reviewed for GA?

Hey Cplakidas :), I was wondering, is there a quick way to have a article reviewed for GA? Because by the time someone reviews the article i have nominated for GA I will lose interest in it/won't have time to fix it. --HistoryofIran (talk) 23:19, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Hello HistoryofIran! I know the frustration of waiting months for a review, but as everything here is on a volunteer basis, there is no choice. The only tip I can give regarding the GA process is that the warfare category is checked far more regularly than generic history or the royalty/nobility one, so better nominate it there. Alternatively, of course, you can simply ask someone to review the article for you, if you think they'd be interested. Constantine ✍ 06:00, 16 February 2016 (UTC)
(watching:) When I need a quick review, I ask Jaguar and Yash!, alternating, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:38, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

Michael Kantakouzenos (died 1316)

Hello Constantine, I fear the term "Despot" may not be used here in its proper meaning... Greets --SJuergen (talk) 21:16, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Hi SJuergen! What do you mean? The article does not call him a Despot. If you mean the category, it is a catch-all for the Late Byzantine Morea as we don't have different categories for the pre-1349 and post-1349 entities. Constantine ✍ 21:21, 16 February 2016 (UTC)
Hi Constantine, I mean the chapter headline, not the category. --SJuergen (talk) 21:44, 16 February 2016 (UTC)
Gah, it's been staring me in the face and still I didn't see it. Thanks for the heads up! Cheers, Constantine ✍ 21:45, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Books & Bytes - Issue 15

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 15, December-January 2016
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs), Nikkimaria (talk · contribs), UY Scuti (talk · contribs)

  • New donations - Ships, medical resources, plus Arabic and Farsi resources
  • #1lib1ref campaign summary and highlights
  • New branches and coordinators

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:19, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

Verdun

Sorry about the mess, I used open office to redo the page after some questionable edits and managed to remove word spaces. I thought that I'd found them all. RegardsKeith-264 (talk) 17:08, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

Don't worry Keith, typos are only to be expected in such a long text. That's what other editors are here for ;). Interesting article BTW, it filled quite a few gaps in my knowledge of the battle. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 17:30, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

Ancestral/Ethnicity question of rulers

If you are a German King from a line of German Kings of Germanic dynasty in Medieval times, this is hypothetical question, and let's say you have a Japanese mother and a Japanese great-grandmother, are you Japanese or German? Assuming you realize this king is 5/8 Japanese in his blood and assuming he doesn't speak Japanese or care about Japan that much. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 22:28, 21 February 2016 (UTC)

Well, regardless of which period this is about, you are certainly of Japanese descent, but otherwise you are thoroughly a German. Upbringing in a specific culture and possibly conscious choice determine a person's ethnicity after all, not blood. Case in point, I once met a son of an Afghan mother and a North Korean father who was raised in Greece and was way more archetypically "Greek" than me or most of my friends ;). Constantine ✍ 22:40, 21 February 2016 (UTC)
Excellent logical answer. My question arised after knowing that one of the Abbasid Caliph had an Armenian mother and Armenian great-grandmother. I just find it interesting how genetics vary. Also looking back at Suleiman the Magnificent he is descendant from Genghis Khan through his mother, yet Suleiman has lots of Circassian features from his mother. But you can't describe them based on genetics in Wikipedia Alexis Ivanov (talk) 23:33, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

Barnstar

Thanks for that. These articles originate in a rescue job for Municipal Art Gallery of Ioannina, which had been put up for AfD by User:Boleyn – rather silly for the main public gallery in a city this size. With all of them the artist's work is held by the museum and they have an entry in the :el wiki. I wish I had access to enough information to do more than short thumbnail bios, and really wish the copyright laws allowed for more examples of their work. Better than nothing, I suppose. Thanks again, Aymatth2 (talk) 13:00, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

Ah, I wasn't aware of that. No problem, I'll keep that in mind. Sorry for any inconvenience. Constantine ✍ 18:02, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

New article for Βλάσης Γαβριηλίδης - Vlassis Gavrielides? Vlasis Gavriilidis?

Well, I'm back to the Gospel Riots and the GLQ (after rather a long time, I have to admit). I've just posted something on Talk:Greek language question in reply to your last message. Many apologies for the ridiculously long delay! And many thanks for such a considered and helpful response!

But this is a different question. I want to start a new article on Βλάσης Γαβριηλίδης the founder and proprietor of Akropolis, but which transliteration should I use for the title? Searching WP gives 14 hits for "Gavrielides" and 42 for "Gavriilidis", and both Mackridge and Merry's Encyclopedia of Modern Greek Literature (2004) use Gavriilidis. But many other WP titles use "e" for "η", like Penelope Delta not Pinelopi. Is there a consensus view about this? And what about Βλάσης ?

Thanks again for your help and attention (and of course for the Barnstar) --SteepLearningCurve (talk) 19:18, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

Hi SteepLearningCurve, glad you're back! Glad you found my feedback helpful, although it wasn't really anything incisive insight... On the transliteration issue, we usually go by WP:GREEK, which for modern Greek names would be Vlasis Gavriilidis. Personally I'd prefer using e for the η (and eu for ευ etc), but common practice is phonetic rendering, thus... The variants can be included in the lede as alternate spellings and created as redirects to the article. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 19:30, 23 February 2016 (UTC)
Vlasis Gavriilidis it is then. I'll do alternates and redirects as well. Thanks--SteepLearningCurve (talk) 20:18, 23 February 2016 (UTC)

DYK for Battle of the Straits

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 12:02, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

DYK for Siege of Syracuse (877–878)

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:01, 26 February 2016 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue CXIX, February 2016

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 14:14, 27 February 2016 (UTC)

Early Roman economy

Hey, I stumbled on User:G.W./EcRome today. The editor hasn't been around for awhile, but that subpage's text and references could be useful to one of your projects? (I know you're Byzantine, not early Roman, but it's worth a shot) Ed [talk] [majestic titan] 20:59, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Arab–Khazar wars

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Arab–Khazar wars you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of FunkMonk -- FunkMonk (talk) 23:21, 29 February 2016 (UTC)

Barbaron

Hi, I wanted your help about the term "Barbaron" which I found in crusades-related articles, mainly with Armenian personalities. It seems to be some kind of location but I'm unable to find any possible translation of its name in greek... Maybe "Βάρβαρον" ? You can reply me on my el@wiki account if you prefer. -- Montjoie-Saint-Denis !!! talk 14:23, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Theoktistos

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Theoktistos you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Johanna -- Johanna (talk) 15:41, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Battle of Salamis (306 BC)

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Battle of Salamis (306 BC) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Sturmvogel 66 -- Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 04:01, 12 March 2016 (UTC)

You may not have noticed, but I've completed my review of this article.--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 16:46, 17 March 2016 (UTC)

Theoktistos GA review

Perhaps my ping didn't work, but you have comments at Talk:Theoktistos/GA1. Johanna(talk to me!) 02:13, 17 March 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Byzantine–Bulgarian war of 913–927/archive1

I thought you might want to take a look at this one. - Dank (push to talk) 21:18, 19 March 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the heads up Dank, I'll definitely check it out. Constantine ✍ 12:20, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

Athena

Hello, Constantine -- I was just looking at the lead in Athena, and I saw near the beginning of the article a list of things of which Athena is the goddess. In the list is "olive oil". Following that is a "citation needed" tag. I wondered whether "olive oil" was correct at all. I thought, maybe the cultivation of olives, but olive oil? Anyway, perhaps you could find a source if indeed the phrase should stay. I was also curious to find out more about the word "Pallas". Is there any place in WP that would explain this word? I thought of it when I read the first line of Pallaqucha. Do you see the Quechua definition of "palla"? I thought, wow, could it be possible that, other than a possible import through Spanish, there could be any connection between Quechua and Greek? Or is that out of the realm of possibility?  – Corinne (talk) 21:03, 20 March 2016 (UTC)

Hi Corinne. Yes, "olive oil" is too specific; olive cultivation is more accurate, since she is credited with gifting the olive tree to Athens. On the "Pallas" epithet, you only have to look further down in the article. An import from Spanish/Quechua to ancient Greek is of course impossible, since they are separated by about two millennia. Constantine ✍ 12:26, 21 March 2016 (UTC)
Thanks, Constantine -- I was actually thinking of an import in the other direction, but I'll read the article.  – Corinne (talk) 14:35, 21 March 2016 (UTC)
Rather unlikely either way. Spanish of the 15th/16th century certainly did not incorporate that many Greek mythological elements, and the term "Pallas" was specific to Athena since antiquity, and unlikely to be converted into a more generic sense. An adoption into Quechua would be even more unlikely, given its marginalization by the Spanish. Plus I suspect if you look into it you would find it to be a native Quechua word. This is just one of those linguistic coincidences, I guess... Constantine ✍ 14:52, 21 March 2016 (UTC)
I just saw this. Thanks for your comment. I also realize that I just started a second section with the same heading. Feel free to combine them or add a "2" after "Athena" in the second one.  – Corinne (talk) 03:58, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

Category:Fitna of al-Andalus has been nominated for discussion

Category:Fitna of al-Andalus, which you created, has been nominated for possible deletion, merging, or renaming. A discussion is taking place to see if it abides with the categorization guidelines. If you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments at the category's entry on the categories for discussion page. Thank you. Marcocapelle (talk) 22:07, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Battle of Salamis (306 BC)

The article Battle of Salamis (306 BC) you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Battle of Salamis (306 BC) for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Sturmvogel 66 -- Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 22:21, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

Two secondary sources disagreeing on the ethnicity of a Sultan, how to choose?

One source is saying Circassian, and I have verified by going and digging for the primary source to get an extra detail here and there, while the other doesn't give a references and calls this Sultan a Prussian or Greek, I went to the library and I feel disappointed now. The author doesn't tell where he got it from, and just mentions it casually, it is un-verifiable. I'm more inclined to the Circassian ancestry of the Sultan, I have hard time accepting the author without him giving reasons and another source giving a better source which is verifiable. I have presented my argument here. At this point I don't know what to do, tag it by saying we need more verification? Throw it out in place of the Circassian source? Alexis Ivanov (talk) 00:29, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

Hi Alexis Ivanov! Well, that is a problem, but on balance I would say disregard the Greek/Prussian one. You might keep it with some cautious wording, e.g. "Historian X calls him a Greek/Prussian, but without mentioning his source"), but frankly the Prussian bit is so unlikely (even if he was truly of Prussian descent, I very much doubt the Arabic sources, who usually lumped Europeans into broad categories, would be able to differentiate his ethnic origin enough for us to be able to pinpoint this to such a degree) that this rings alarm bells. Constantine ✍ 15:29, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue CXX, March 2016

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 12:15, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Arab–Khazar wars

The article Arab–Khazar wars you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Arab–Khazar wars for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of FunkMonk -- FunkMonk (talk) 17:21, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Battle of Andros

Hello, there's an issue with the dab page you created for Battle of Andros as it doesn't respect WP:MOSDAB guidelines, WP:DABMENTION in particular. On top of that, the 1696 battle was set up as a primary topic with 150 links pointing to it, so the move was rather disruptive as it broke those links. Before the dab page could be considered legitimate, could you find out if the 1790 and 1825 battles are referenced on Wikipedia, as I can't find any trace of them? Thanks, --Midas02 (talk) 03:37, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

  • I have reverted this move, as I can find no discussion establishing consensus. bd2412 T 03:45, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
    • @BD2412: Sorry, but I have re-reverted. The assertion about primary topic for the 1696 battle is totally spurious. The 150 links pointing to it come mostly from the campaignbox about the Great Turkish War and the Ottoman battles navbox it is included in, and that is no reliable indicator of importance. The mere fact that there were three other battles of the same name argues against primary topic, and in terms of historical importance the 246 BC battle was far more consequential, as it broke Ptolemaic hegemony in the Aegean Sea and replaced it with Antigonid rule. @Midas02: On the 1790 and 1825 battles, the Greek WP has them, and I, as a Greek know of them from history. I plan to write on them in the fullness of time. Constantine ✍ 12:14, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
    • To be blunt, I am irked at the lack of WP:AGF here. If a well-established editor with a clear, abiding interest and knowledge of the area performs such a move, then I'd assume that this is bona fide correct. If any doubts remain, I'd first contact him and then see about reverting his actions, especially if my own knowledge of the area and subject in question is insufficient. Constantine ✍ 12:20, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
    • PS I think the whole back-and-forth has resulted in the original Talk:Battle of Andros (1696) being lost. Can someone restore it? Constantine ✍ 12:21, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
      • AGF doesn't enter into it. WP:RM requires that potentially controversial page moves must be discussed and obtain consensus. Any page move creating a large number of disambiguation links is going to be controversial. The best practice is to correct all the incoming links before creating the disambiguation page, in order to avoid this controversy. Cheers! bd2412 T 13:07, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
        • OK, thanks for the advice, but I did change the campaignbox after moving the page, and the Ottoman battles navbox already pointed to the "1696" page all along. So this was a non-issue from the start. Constantine ✍ 13:39, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
          • You have still missed the original point. Entries can only be added to dab pages if they are mentioned in other articles. Red links in particular fall under WP:DABRL. ANY dab editor who comes along will remove those again if they are not complemented by a blue link where that particular battle is being mentioned. So please look into that. --Midas02 (talk) 19:41, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
            • Apologies, apparently you were looking into it as I was typing. Only one left now is the 1825 battle. Any chance of getting a mention of it (no need to start an article!) in another article? --Midas02 (talk) 19:46, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
            • (edit conflict) I respectfully disagree here. WP:DABRL says quite clearly "Do not create red links to articles that are unlikely ever to be written, or are likely to be removed as insufficiently notable topic". This is clearly not the case here. The reasons these articles were not found on enwiki is because Wikipedia is a) an incomplete work in progress and b) the English WP has a recognized bias in coverage that means that topics and areas like the one in question are very under-represented. Many if not most of the articles I have written on enwiki were not "mentioned" or at least linked here before I wrote them, regardless of notability... That's why trusting blindly to incoming links etc. is not a good idea IMO, and why one should have some knowledge of the area or ask someone knowledgeable before deleting stuff. Constantine ✍ 20:14, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
            • Re the second message, yes, I'll do some work on both the 1790 and the 1825 battles and related articles, don't worry. Constantine ✍ 20:14, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
              • No problem, but I believe you misinterpreted the part on red links. Red links ARE allowed on dab pages (contrary to what many people believe), but they HAVE (mandatory!) to be complemented by a blue link. See first sentence of WP:DABRL (... a "red link" should only be included on a disambiguation page when an article also includes that red link) and WP:DDD (Don't include entries without a blue link & Don't include red links that aren't used elsewhere). So I hope that clarifies things. I'll leave the dab page as it is for the time being, but other people might remove the entry if a blue link is not added at some point. --Midas02 (talk) 16:08, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

To a more seasoned Hellenophile

If you get a chance, could you put your eye on the Minoan civilization article? I tried to improve the lead. It could well be GA with some improvement. Cheers. Cake (talk) 14:55, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

HiMisterCake! I am going through it, but there is lots of work to be done. There are paragraphs missing references, many references of dubious quality, inconsistent prose quality and reference formatting, etc. This is nothing that cannot be solved in a few days' dedicated work, but Minoan Crete is sadly far beyond my usual area of work. Thus, though to my layman's eyes it looks OK, I cannot really attest as to comprehensiveness either. Constantine ✍ 08:44, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

The case of the Zoupanos heir

Γεια σου,

May I ask your help to deal with a persistent vandalism happening on el Wikipedia? My written Greek is not strong enough for me to do it myself...

An anonymous user is repeatedly adding the following paragraph to the el:Τσάρος page in the Σέρβοι τσάροι section. It's a blatant hoax: no dynasty called Zoupanos has ever reigned as tsars in Serbia, and the Tsardom of Serbia only had two tsars, both of the Nemanjić dynasty, with no heirs known since the 14th century. There was also a modern Serbian/Yugoslav monarchy, but they never used the title of tsar and its heir and pretender is called Alexander, unrelated to the IPs' claim.

However, this paragraph keeps returning to the page every time it is deleted:

My connections in Corfu tell me that the individual pretending to be a Serbian imperial pretender of this title is a subject of laughter over there, and the creator of many "royal" facebook profiles. I don't think that this joke deserves a place on Wikipedia, but, again, my Greek is not enough to argue for it over there, if arguing is needed. Do you think a semi-protection could be in order? (Also pinging @Dr.K.: for input.) Place Clichy (talk) 16:23, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi Place Clichy! I'll keep an eye on it, and I can contact some admins in the elwiki if necessary, but since he edits now and then it probably doesn't qualify for protection. Constantine ✍ 19:12, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
It's back (updating chronology). Indeed there is not a big number of edits, but this user seems to be pretty quick (between 2 and 7 days) to rewrite the article according to their fantasy whenever it is cleaned. Place Clichy (talk) 08:17, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Demeter

Hello, Constantine -- Is this edit to Demeter changing "barley" to "spelt" correct?  – Corinne (talk) 01:17, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi Corinne! According to the rather comprehensive article ζειά in the elwiki, the term has not been conclusively identified with any grain variety, with various proposed identifications including spelt, rye, barley, or emmer. Constantine ✍ 10:11, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
O.K. Thanks. Then isn't it a bit misleading to single out one of those and not mention the others? (If they were mentioned, I apologize; I haven't looked carefully at the article.)  – Corinne (talk) 20:33, 6 April 2016 (UTC)
Indeed it is misleading, I've changed it accordingly. Constantine ✍ 08:24, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

Athena

Constantine, would you mind taking a look at the caption for the first image in Athena? It says "1st century BC/AD". It took me a minute to figure out what this meant. I realized that it meant that art historians are not sure whether it dates from the 1st century BC or the 1st century AD, but that it is from one of them. I think this could be confusing to some readers. I'm wondering whether you think it makes sense to insert "or" there, as in "1st century BC or 1st century AD" or express it as a range: "1st century BC – 1st century AD". What do you think?  – Corinne (talk) 03:56, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

@Corinne: Hmmm, going by the usual practice with dates, I'd go for range, i.e. either "1st century BC – 1st century AD" or 1st century BC/1st century AD". Cheers, Constantine ✍ 08:26, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

DYK for Battle of Salamis (306 BC)

On 10 April 2016, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Battle of Salamis (306 BC), which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that in the Battle of Salamis in 306 BC, during the wars between Alexander the Great's generals, Demetrius Poliorcetes defeated the fleet of Ptolemy I and conquered Cyprus? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Battle of Salamis (306 BC). You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, daily totals), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:57, 10 April 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Droungarios of the Watch

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Droungarios of the Watch you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of LT910001 -- LT910001 (talk) 21:41, 11 April 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Theoktistos

The article Theoktistos you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Theoktistos for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Johanna -- Johanna (talk) 18:41, 13 April 2016 (UTC)

Books & Bytes - Issue 16

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 16, February-March 2016
by The Interior (talk · contribs), UY Scuti (talk · contribs)

  • New donations - science, humanities, and video resources
  • Using hashtags in edit summaries - a great way to track a project
  • A new cite archive template, a new coordinator, plus conference and Visiting Scholar updates
  • Metrics for the Wikipedia Library's last three months

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:16, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Trajan

Hallo Constantine
Alessandro writing! How are you doing? I have a question for you: do you have online access to the yearbook named "Scripta Classica Israelitica"? The reason is that the main source about our Trajan's article, Julian Bennett, has been demolished in this magazine (W. Eck, Scripta Classica Israelitica 17, 1998, p. 231-234). I found this critic in the book of Karl Strobel "Kaiser Trajan", reported it on the talk page, and two fellow users who are trying to bring the article to GA status asked me if I can find these 4 pages. About Rome, I will write you a mail, since these last months have been very tumultuous... Cheers Alex2006 (talk) 16:14, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi Alessandro, long time no see! I'm well, although increasingly busy in RL. How are you? I hope everything is well? Regarding your request, no, unfortunately I don't have access to a copy of it. I suppose the university library might have it, but I don't have a membership card as I can usually find most resources I want online. If it is absolutely critical I could try and get one, though. Awaiting your mail :). Cheers, Constantine ✍ 17:06, 15 April 2016 (UTC)
Thanks Constantine! I have been also very busy in RL in the last months, but I am trying always to keep an eye at wikipedia ;-) No problem, actually you gave my a good idea, I could check at the ZB here! Cheers, Alex2006 (talk) 16:36, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Greek Tjeld-type patrol boat

I notice you moved this page I was writing with the edit summary "in Greece, they are universally designated with their US class name". I've moved it back, per BRD, and opened a discussion there. If you have any hard evidence for your assertion perhaps you would be good enough to present it there, so we can work out how to include it in the article.
On a personal note, seeing as how I only started the article a couple of days ago, I'd have thought the most reasonable assumption was that I'd actually looked into the subject before starting, and that the most collegial approach (if you thought I was mistaken) would have been to drop me a line or open a discussion, instead of piling in with both feet: As it is, a page move is a lot more disruptive (and a lot more awkward to undo) than a simple text edit, so moving stuff around should be done more circumspectly, not less. Xyl 54 (talk) 13:54, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Bertrand des Baux

https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Bertrand_of_Les_Baux seems irregular. He has always been known in English as Bertrand des Baux. Why torture the language by creating a new name? It would be better to indicate that he was in control of Les Baux, but he was not. By then the House of Baux was spreading to different locations. Please consider changing his name back.68.37.168.37 (talk) 14:12, 17 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi! I understand the concern, but the name is not my invention, it follows Topping in A History of the Crusades, and it is correct if one were to anglicize the name properly. I'll check it further though, and likely will make the move as the original name is simpler. Constantine ✍ 15:16, 17 April 2016 (UTC)

January to March 2016 Quarterly Article Reviews

 Military history service award 
On behalf of the WikiProject Military history coordinators, I hereby award you this for your contribution of 1 FA, A-Class, Peer and/or GA reviews during the period January to March 2016. Thank you for your efforts! Anotherclown (talk) 10:30, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

Editor of the Week : nominations needed!

The Editor of the Week initiative has been recognizing editors since 2013 for their hard work and dedication. Editing Wikipedia can be disheartening and tedious at times; the weekly Editor of the Week award lets its recipients know that their positive behaviour and collaborative spirit is appreciated. The response from the honorees has been enthusiastic and thankful.

The list of nominees is running short, and so new nominations are needed for consideration. Have you come across someone in your editing circle who deserves a pat on the back for improving article prose regularly, making it easier to understand? Or perhaps someone has stepped in to mediate a contentious dispute, and did an excellent job. Do you know someone who hasn't received many accolades and is deserving of greater renown? Is there an editor who does lots of little tasks well, such as cleaning up citations?

Please help us thank editors who display sustained patterns of excellence, working tirelessly in the background out of the spotlight, by submitting your nomination for Editor of the Week today!

Sent on behalf of Buster Seven Talk for the Editor of the Week initiative by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:18, 22 April 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Droungarios of the Watch

The article Droungarios of the Watch you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Droungarios of the Watch for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of LT910001 -- LT910001 (talk) 08:41, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

Giannis Bezos

Thank you for your deprod of Giannis Bezos. I agree that he is notable and should have an article in English Wikipedia. Note that a page about him was deleted in 2014, with most of the AfD participants commenting that he was very probably notable but that the Greek sources were too difficult for non-Greek speakers to deal with. Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Yannis Bezos. I've added a news source (about his most recently announced TV series) and a link to his English-language IMDb page, but (notwithstanding my user name) at this point in my life the amount of Greek--ancient or modern--that I can muster from my school days is very limited, and any assistance you could provide to add more sources or otherwise improve the article would be extremely welcome. Best, --Arxiloxos (talk) 16:01, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

Lemme just say..

The Graphic Designer's Barnstar
..congratulations. I'm currently listening to the History of Byzantium podcast, and its gratifying to hear how a fellow Wikipedian's work has assisted that project. -- Director (talk) 13:21, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
Thanks Director, much appreciated! I am also in contact with Robin Pierson, who makes the podcast. A big shout-out should go to him for his excellent work. Constantine ✍ 13:56, 27 April 2016 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue CXXI, April 2016

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If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 01:38, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Greek Dark Ages

Hello, Constantine -- Do you have Greek Dark Ages on your watch list? If you do, then you may already have seen this edit and the one right after it. If you don't, then perhaps you might like to take a look at it. I don't know whether the removal of the Doric invasion phrase was a good edit, but it left a small grammatical error. (If you think the edit should stand, then "the" needs to be added before "end".) Also, regarding the change from "are" to "is", I don't know whether the subject is singular or plural. It looks plural because of the word "and" before "Geometric or Homeric Age", but I don't know. I agree with the editor that the subject, or "antecedent", of the sentence is confusing.  – Corinne (talk) 03:02, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Battle of Yanshi

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Battle of Yanshi you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Sturmvogel 66 -- Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 02:21, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Request for review of Byzantine-era patriarchs articles.

Hello, Cplakidas. This is Zee money. Thank you for reviewing my 2 articles about the Greek resistance. I created articles for 5 Byzantine-era patriarchs from the 12th century. They are Constantine IV of Constantinople, Chariton of Constantinople, Nicetas II of Constantinople, Leontius of Constantinople and Dositheus of Constantinople. They already have articles in a number of wikis in other languages, so I think having English-language articles for them are needed. I'm not completely familiar with the circumstances surrounding their tenure. Also, there is another article I created, Sotirios Gotzamanis, which I think is significant to the WP Greece. Zee money (talk) 14:19, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for the heads up and above all for creating these articles, Zee money! I'll check them out ASAP. Constantine ✍ 12:53, 11 May 2016 (UTC)

Talk:Northern_Epirote_Declaration_of_Independence/GA1#Spelling

Hi Constantine, hope you have a good time. Hopefully the article is nearly on GA status, but there is small but serious disagreement about the spelling of the locations. Since you are an expert on promoting articles of this era and with a good understanding on wp:NC/GN your opinion will be appreciated.Alexikoua (talk) 10:39, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

I appreciate your time and effort to improve this (among other). On the other hand, short-term disruption by users with a clear agenda will be nothing more than a small parenthesis.Alexikoua (talk) 20:52, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

File:Katsimitros.jpg listed for discussion

A file that you uploaded or altered, File:Katsimitros.jpg, has been listed at Wikipedia:Files for discussion. Please see the discussion to see why it has been listed (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry). Feel free to add your opinion on the matter below the nomination. Thank you. Sfan00 IMG (talk) 19:09, 19 May 2016 (UTC)

2016 Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Search Community Survey

The Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation has appointed a committee to lead the search for the foundation’s next Executive Director. One of our first tasks is to write the job description of the executive director position, and we are asking for input from the Wikimedia community. Please take a few minutes and complete this survey to help us better understand community and staff expectations for the Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director.

Thank you, The Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Search Steering Committee via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:49, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Treaty of Rhandeia

Hey Constantinos, long time no talk, hope you're doing well! I just created this very small article; even though alot of the stuff was already covered in the article about the war (Roman–Parthian War of 58–63) all historians I've stumbled across mention it as a genuine treaty, namely the Treaty of Rhandeia. Therefore I thought it should be created. That all said; I was wondering; how come there is no Category:Treaties of the Roman Empire category? Is there a specific reason for it? This treaty was namely signed by the Roman Empire under Nero, but I could not the appropriate category for it. Wanted to check up first before actually creating it myself. Btw, if you think certain things need some tweaking on the article, feel absolutely free do to so! :-) Bests - LouisAragon (talk) 01:59, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

Hi LouisAragon! I am busy in RL but well, thanks for asking! I hope you are doing well :). On the article, as long as it is a legitimate free-standing subject which can be expanded upon a such (i.e. if there is sufficient treatment of it in the sources or scholarly literature so that it can stand as an independent topic) I have no objections. On the category, I am not aware of any reason why it does not (or should not) exist. Go ahead! Constantine ✍ 11:16, 4 June 2016 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue CXXII, May–June 2016

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Your GA nomination of Battle of Yanshi

The article Battle of Yanshi you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Battle of Yanshi for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Sturmvogel 66 -- Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 20:41, 6 June 2016 (UTC)

Her highness Despina Khatun infobox

I was working on creating an infobox for the wife of Uzun Hassan after someone delivered a journal to me that included a valuable information, anyway her burial place interested me, she is buried in St.George's Church in Diyarbakir in late 15th century. Evidently once I google the Church name I get an Armenian church St. Giragos Armenian Church, I highly doubt her body or tomb survived the Armenian Genocide or any conflict in the region that it has faced. Do you recommend changing the name to St.Giragos or just keep it St.George. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 06:02, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

Hi Alexis Ivanov! Well, unless I am mistaken, St. Giragos is St. Cyriacus, not St. George. AFAIK, in Armenian, George is Kevork/Gevorg. So it is obviously not the same church. Constantine ✍ 07:26, 10 June 2016 (UTC)
Oh, I might have confused myself, I had a coptic friend with the name of Girgis translated to George, I didn't realize there was a difference. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 07:33, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

SVG-maps

Good evening Constantine. Considering you edit a lot using svg maps I wonder if you know how to stop the superimposing of subtitles that occurs when I upload my images? For exemple, I translated this tree and look the result here. I used the same size for all letters and I adjusted the space because some names in Portuguese were bigger then the English ones. However, I'm still having problems. This also occurs when I translate some maps.--Renato de carvalho ferreira (talk) 21:39, 12 June 2016 (UTC)

Hi Renato! Well, in svg you get what you specify, there is no difference before and after uploading, except if the browser is unable to render it properly (e.g. when the file is too big and complex). From downloading the file in question, the text is already partially overlapping there, so you would have to edit the entire tree to space the names out a bit. Otherwise a good idea is also to transform any text into paths, which scale much better for different image sizes. Constantine ✍ 08:42, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Requested move

There is a requested move at Talk:Ayşe Hafsa Sultan#Requested move 13 June 2016 on a page that you have edited in the past. You are invited to come to the talk page and give your input.  OUR Wikipedia (not "mine")! Paine  02:39, 14 June 2016 (UTC)

Books & Bytes - Issue 17

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 17, April-May 2016
by The Interior, Ocaasi, UY Scuti, Sadads, and Nikkimaria

  • New donations this month - a German-language legal resource
  • Wikipedia referals to academic citations - news from CrossRef and WikiCite2016
  • New library stats, WikiCon news, a bot to reveal Open Access versions of citations, and more!

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:36, 16 June 2016 (UTC)

Urgent matter of a user changing dates in Islamic articles

User talk:Muhammad Umair Mirza is going rampage with articles, I stumbled upon him while editing the Selim 1 article, he gave a precise date of caliphate transition that seems absurd when you think about. If you look at his Contribution page I worry that huge amount of misinformation is being dumped on the site. I don't know what to do with, you can't make him stop editing. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 00:06, 18 June 2016 (UTC)

Hello Alexis Ivanov! This is a textbook case of WP:DISRUPTIVE as it violates WP:VERIFY and WP:NOR. You should warn him to use proper references, and if he does not do so or at least respond then you can take this to WP:ANI. I see that his talk page is littered with warnings, with no replies by him. Failure to respond to criticism and engage constructively with other community members is usually a clear sign of WP:IDHT, and an indef block is probably coming his way fast. Constantine ✍ 09:05, 18 June 2016 (UTC)
Thank you for the information, this is what I needed to know exactly. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 09:09, 18 June 2016 (UTC)

Sasanian capture of Rhodes (622/3)

Hello Constantine, I was wondering, the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 states that the "naval base at Rhodes may have fallen in 622 or 623, threatening a naval assault on Constantinople, though this event is difficult to confirm". I could view Kaegi (2003) who indeed asserts such thing, but I found several more recent references who are more clear regarding the capture, e.g.;

  • A Persian fleet was also active, and the island of Rhodes fell to the invaders in 622/3. -- Geoffrey Greatrex, Samuel N. C. Lieu. (2005) The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 363-628. Routledge. ISBN 978-1134756469 p 197
  • By 623 they had reached Ancyra (modern-day Ankara, the capital of Turkey), while the Persian naval forces seized the island of Rhodes and several other islands in the eastern Aegean. -- Mehrdad Kia (2016) The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1610693912 p 266
  • Apart fom succesful attacks on Cyprus (around 619) and Rhodes and other unspecified islands in 623, (...) -- J. D. Howard-Johnston (2006) East Rome, Sasanian Persia and the End of Antiquity: Historiographical and Historical Studies Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0860789925 p 33

I thought I'd state the matter first to you as well, as I wanted either to; a) entirely remove the mention of Kaegi and his doubts 2) specifically mention that only Kaegi (and Foss 1975?) doubt the matter after, the insertion of the three references as listed above. Bests - LouisAragon (talk) 22:49, 30 June 2016 (UTC)

Hi LouisAragon! Thanks for notifying me and for the detective work on this. Hmm, before giving an answer either way we should know why Kaegi expressed doubts. Is there any mention of the primary source for this? Constantine ✍ 14:37, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
Hey Constantine, thanks for your prompt response. I have no idea honestly. Kaegi seems not to be giving any reference himself regarding the matter. Of the references that I linked above, only J. D. Howard-Johnston states, as a ref behind the "Capture of Rhodes" part; Chronicle to 724, p. 18. Chronicle to 1234, p. 133. (and related texts cited in n. 300). Are those "chronicles" perhaps the Byzantine original works (and thus the primary source(s) you mean)? - LouisAragon (talk) 20:50, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
Aha. Well, the Chronicle to 724 is an 8th-century Syriac chronicle, and Chronicle to 1234 is a much later Syriac work, which relies on several earlier authors; however Howard-Johnston in his Witnesses to a World Crisis mentions Theophilus of Edessa as the original source for the events of 623, and this seems credible enough. On my part I have no opposition to adding this info. Please also add it to the article Rhodes as well. Best regards, Constantine ✍ 13:02, 2 July 2016 (UTC)
Aight, will do so! :-) Are you thus fine with the removal of Kaegi's uncertain stance as well? Bests - LouisAragon (talk) 19:04, 2 July 2016 (UTC)
No objection. Kaegi certainly is right, since most of these events are "difficult to confirm", if they rely on a single source, but that is beside the point. The source is generally considered credible, and the consensus appears to be (thanks to the references you found) that this happened exactly as described. Constantine ✍ 09:07, 3 July 2016 (UTC)

John Kontostephanos

Hi Constantine! As usual you made another splendid work, now with the Kontostephanos family. Despite this, I'm having a little problem with some officials who were mentioned in some of our articles before your contributions. For intance: in Kilij Arslan II there is a phrase about one John Kontostephanos, a Manuel's nephew, who defeated Kilij in 1161; in Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus there is another John, but now commanding one fleet against Isaac in 1185; in Maria of Antioch there is another (too much!) John, who was an nonspecific official; and in John Rogerios Dalassenos it is necessary to update the information about John's marriage with Theodora. Could you please help me with this stuff?--Renato de carvalho ferreira (talk) 03:18, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

Hi Renato! The Kontostephanos article is still a work in progress (to be honest I began it in an attempt to sort out the various Andronikoi and Johns, and I still get confused sometimes), and I intend to write articles on all major members of the family. In so far as possible, I will try to identify the correct person in the articles you linked, but this may not prove possible, especially as they lack references. Constantine ✍ 09:21, 3 July 2016 (UTC)

John Kontostephanos

Hi Constantine,

In Kinnamos, John Kontostephanos, presumably the son of Stephen, is mentioned as recruiting an army in the Crusader states and inflicting a defeat on an army of 22,000 Turks, at an unnamed place, in 1160-1161. This defeat is described as being the stimulus which induced the Seljuq sultan to sue for peace. I will modify the article on John in this light if you feel the attribution is correct. Urselius (talk) 10:29, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

Also, please remember to indicate in your edit summary reasons for removing fully cited material e.g. Manuel Erotikos Komnenos.

The Bugle: Issue CXXIII, July 2016

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Orthodoxy in Greece (from 1974) -- Split article

Hi Constantine,

The article Timeline of Orthodoxy in Greece (from 1974) has been tagged to be split up, due to its length. I was thinking that one possibility is to split it at 2008, and I wanted to ask your opinion on that (i.e. "1974-2008"; and "2008-Present"). It was in 2008 that Abp. Christodoulos passed away, and one might say that a new era began with Abp. Ieronymos. Also, 2008 was one year before the onset of the debt crisis in crisis; and although this is an economic issue, it has obviously affected the entire society, including an exodus of nearly half-a-million Greeks from Greece since 2008, according to a recent Bank of Greece report. At any rate, any suggestions for a good place to split it up would be appreciated. Salut. ΙΣΧΣΝΙΚΑ-888 (talk) 00:52, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

HiΙΣΧΣΝΙΚΑ-888! Hmmm, difficult choice, but 2008 is possibly as good a choice as any. If I were to choose a strictly political periodization, I'd more likely choose 1996 or 2011, TBH, but there is no objective criterion either way. So no objections from me.Cheers, Constantine ✍ 11:30, 8 July 2016 (UTC)

Ahmad ibn Tulun

In the article it states "Ibn Tulun stands out as the first governor of a major province of the Abbasid Caliphate to not only establish himself as its master independently of the Abbasid court", I would argue that Idris ibn Abdallah in Maghrib (789 C.E.), Ibrahim ibn Aghlab in Ifriqiyah (800 C.E.) and Tahir ibn Husayn in Khurasan/Transoxania (821 C.E.) were much earlier, and both governed a major province that in turn became the seat of their respective dynasties/Emirate much earlier than ibn Tulun had done in Egypt (868 C.E.). Idris is unique since he was outright a rebel and governed as an independent since day 1. Abbasids lost the Maghrib province first (if we exclude Andalus). Alexis Ivanov (talk) 01:59, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Hi Alexis Ivanov! Yes, this is a someqhat contentious point, but I consider the statement correct since a) neither the Maghrib nor Ifriqiya were anything close to as important as Egypt was, and b) the Tahirids were not independent of the Abbasid court, but in a sort of partnership with them. The Caliphate could (and did) survive loss of the North African provinces without too much trouble; they were peripheral and relatively poor, whereas the breaking away of Egypt, one of the largest, most populous, and richest provinces, was a sign of political disintegration at the very heart of the Muslim world. Idris was important, certainly, but mostly because his was the first Alid state. The area he took over was never under very close caliphal control either way, so this is quite unlike Ibn Tulun. Likewise, Ibn Aghlab took over a province that the Abbasids were prepared to write off as a nuisance (witness the previous Fihrid and Muhallabid "dynasties") long before he came to power, and he never challenged the political pre-eminence of the Abbasid caliphs, nor tried to wrest any more territories from them. Ibn Tulun was the first actual servant of the Caliphate to literally carve out a large chunk of the Muslim empire for himself and his heirs in direct opposition to the Abbasid court. Constantine ✍ 08:15, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

WP:ROME

I based my assumption of all things roman based upon the fact that within the category many non-roman city related articles already existed before I came upon it, however upon review I have to agree with you. I will desist from tagging other articles as such. Iazyges (talk) 23:39, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Roman Military History

Hey I was additionally working on a subpage of the military history currently in the incubator, as i am the only active member, the founder having not done anything since 2013, i was wondering if you were interested in joining, here is a link if you are interested. Iazyges (talk) 23:58, 11 July 2016 (UTC) Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Incubator/Roman military history

Thanks for the invitation Iazyges. First an observation: if you mean to cover Byzantium as well, you should mark this as being part of the Medieval TF as well, and IMO you should rename it to "Roman and Byzantine", since the two are not coterminous for most people. Second, if this gets off the ground I'll gladly become a member, but I won;t be active with administrative stuff etc. I've already tried my hand at resurrecting dormant projects, and IMO it isn't worth the effort. Have you contacted WP:CGR and WP:MA for input/interested users? Constantine ✍ 16:04, 12 July 2016 (UTC)
@Cplakidas: I will mark it as being part of the medieval TF, and changed the name, I will also notify both wiki groups of it, thank you for all your help Iazyges (talk) 16:44, 12 July 2016 (UTC).
FWIW, there's a current discussion at WT:MIL#Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Roman and Byzantine Military History task force. - Dank (push to talk) 18:57, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

Serious mistake from Britannica that has creeped into Wikipedia

Someone down in Britannica made a mistake, and you won't believe it, they made the mistake of confusing Bursa, Byzantine Empire (now, in Turkey) to Bosra, Mamluk Sultante (now, in Syria), we are talking c.1300 C.E. In the page of Ibn Kathir in the Britannica they claimed that the great historian Ibn Kathir was born in Bursa, Byzantine Empire. I just felt something was wrong, when I saw that, and on the Wikipedia page it claimed he was born in Bosra, Byzantine Empire, this is where confusion strikes the hardest, since I didn't believe Byzantine Empire can have a foothold so deep in Syria in that time frame. I checked the maps and rules of the area, and I have taken the matter in my own hands to go back to the second edition of Encyclopedia of Islam, which ended the argument in my favor he was indeed born in Bosra, Syria c.1300 C.E. which is under Mamluk Sultanate at that time. You don't have to open the book, on Brill Online you can read the first sentences of his biography that was published online from the book. ʿImād al-Dīn Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar b. Kat̲h̲īr , born in Boṣrā circa 700/1300 and died in Damascus in S̲h̲aʿbān 774/February 1373, was one of the best-known historians and traditionists of Syria under the Baḥrī Mamlūk dynasty. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 22:41, 12 July 2016 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you have done but they have changed it, here is the page in March 2016. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 22:34, 13 August 2016 (UTC)
Hi Alexis Ivanov! I didn't do anything, I was rather busy in RL and had quite forgotten about it. However, perhaps someone saw this here? I know this page is "followed" at times by some university people. Be that as it may, good catch. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 09:35, 14 August 2016 (UTC)

I need your opinion

Hello Cplakidas,

I would appreciate your opinion.

Would you say that with this edit (diff) I completely ignored the valid point of criticism raised by another editor? --Antidiskriminator (talk) 18:18, 26 July 2016 (UTC)

Hi Antidiskriminator! Hmm, from what I can see your point is valid, and I don't see any "ignoring" going on. What I would suggest would be to clarify this further, e.g. "Skanderbeg's rebellion was not, however, a "national" Albanian uprising against a foreign occupation; many Albanians did not join it and even fought against it for the Sultan, nor where his forces exclusively drawn from Albanians. Rather, his revolt represents a reaction by certain sections of the local society against the loss of privilege and the exactions of the Ottoman government, which they resented." or something along these lines. Because clearly at some level it was a fight against foreign invaders, who upset the previous status quo; the difference is that as a revolt it was not the "national revolution" of nationalist-minded historiography but had more complex motivations. Constantine ✍ 09:58, 27 July 2016 (UTC)
Thank you very much. --Antidiskriminator (talk) 10:05, 27 July 2016 (UTC)
One editor who reviewed GAN of Skanderbeg stated that article on Skanderbeg is too long and that some of its "content should be moved to sub pages" (diff). Based on this recommendation, in attempt to improve the quality of Skanderbeg article, I started two articles:
I would appreciate your opinion about the latter article. Precisely, would you say that Skanderbeg's rebellion is unnecessary WP:OR POV fork?--Antidiskriminator (talk) 10:56, 30 July 2016 (UTC)
Hmm, this is always a tricky question, whether or how to split an article like this. For me, the rule of thumb is whether the conflict extends considerably beyond the main leader, or, conversely, whether the main leader is a subject noteworthy independent of the conflict; e.g. in Thomas the Slav, Thomas is practically only known due to his rebellion and in the same manner the conflict was bound up with him, so the revolt is treated in the biographical article. This has nothing to do with WP:OR or POV, it is simply a question of whether the topic can stand on its own two legs, separately from the biographical article. Now, Skanderbeg is not my specialty, but I think that his life is well documented enough to be able to write a full biographical article and have a second article on his rebellion, particularly if that has enough independent coverage as a topic on its own, and if there is material on several secondary leaders, the Ottoman/Venetian/etc perspective, which belong to the conflict proper rather than the article about the man. For instance, the issue above would better fit in the context of an article on the rebellion rather than about Skanderbeg, as it goes beyond his person into political/social/economic factors that shaped it. Constantine ✍ 11:25, 30 July 2016 (UTC)
Thank you very much.--Antidiskriminator (talk) 14:12, 30 July 2016 (UTC)

Copying within Wikipedia requires proper attribution

Information icon Thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia. It appears that you copied or moved text from Methoni, Messenia into Methoni Castle. While you are welcome to re-use Wikipedia's content, here or elsewhere, Wikipedia's licensing does require that you provide attribution to the original contributor(s). When copying within Wikipedia, this is supplied at minimum in an edit summary at the page into which you've copied content. It is good practice, especially if copying is extensive, to also place a properly formatted {{copied}} template on the talk pages of the source and destination. The attribution has been provided for this situation, but if you have copied material between pages before, even if it was a long time ago, please provide attribution for that duplication. You can read more about the procedure and the reasons at Wikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia. Thank you. If you are the sole author of the prose that was moved, attribution is not required. — Diannaa (talk) 02:57, 31 July 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Siege of Syracuse (877–878)

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Siege of Syracuse (877–878) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Mr rnddude -- Mr rnddude (talk) 11:41, 6 August 2016 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue CXXIV, August 2016

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edited a template you created

I would like your to see your approval of the Template:Campaignbox Muslim conquest of Transoxiana, my mentor @Irondome: believes it might be a WP:BOLD move that will get reverted, coincidentally I see you editing the Battle of Kharistan article which looks good. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 20:45, 14 August 2016 (UTC)

Hi Alexis Ivanov! No worries, it looks OK to me. I played around with a similar structure myself a short time ago but settled for a less radical restructuring. I will (RL concerns allowing) fill out the subject. There are also quite a few battles before the time of Qutayba, and Talas at least is worthy of making it an FA. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 10:53, 15 August 2016 (UTC)
Also some battles after the Abbasids like the Samanids in 9th century. I also have a question how did you reach the number of 7,000 in the Battle of Kharistan? Blankship and Gibb don't mention any number of Asad's troop or am I mistaken. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 18:29, 15 August 2016 (UTC)
True, but after Talas the "conquest" phase was essentially over. As for the number, it comes from Blankinship, p. 181 "This gave him a force of seven thousand". Constantine ✍ 18:52, 15 August 2016 (UTC)
A caliphate led conquest was indeed over, but Samanid (as caliphal governors of Transoxiana) incursion all the way to Talas in 893 was the maximum extension (Cambridge History of Iran, volume 4, page 183, page 184 for the map), the next Muslim rulers of Transoxiana were already residing there the Qarakhanids, Talas was never part of the Abbasid Caliphate in 751. Also how do you know that Shaburqan is the capital of the historical district of Juzjan. I had the impression that Juzjan had another capital. I know you are part of the Wikipedia:Brill, professor Yuri Bregel (who died last week, R.I.P.) made one of the best Atlases I have seen of Central Asia, I recommend that you get it, it helped me understand the Central Asian cities, towns, districts and provinces and also the rivers and tribal (hint:Turkic) migrations. I'm still studying some of them. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 03:19, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
I know, but I think the "Muslim conquest" phase was effectively over with Talas. Not in terms of maximum territorial expansion, but in the sense that the Muslims established their dominance over the local Iranian and Turkic peoples, and that henceforth it remained largely unchallenged. In the same way that the "Muslim conquest of North Africa" was completed in 698 with the fall of Carthage, although much of the interior was not Islamicized until much later. Historical periodization tends to be a bit arbitrary in this manner, although actual historical eras tend to flow into one another over a period of time. For the atlas, thanks for the tip, one more thing to add to my reading list :). Regarding the capital of Juzjan, you are right, I did not see Gibb's note in this regard. Thanks for pointing it out! Constantine ✍ 08:59, 16 August 2016 (UTC)
No problem, yes this Atlas is crucial in my opinion, I always have it opened when reading about anything Central Asia related Alexis Ivanov (talk) 00:34, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

Talk:German invasion of Greece/Archive 2#Fetishism and reality

This remains unaddressed and still tagged inline in the article. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 01:48, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

Precious anniversary

Three years ago ...
Arab–Byzantine wars
... you were recipient
no. 580 of Precious,
a prize of QAI!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:34, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

Noms de poissons

Bonjour Constantin. Est-ce que tu pourrais jeter un œil ici s'il te plaît? On aurait besoin de l'aide d'un hellénophone-chirhellénographe multicompétent.--Phso2 (talk) 17:07, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

Leo the Mathematician

I noticed that you made an edit to my edit of the line "Léōn ho Mathēmatikós or ho Philósophos" in the article Leo the Mathematician some time ago.

This current pronunciation guide "ho" seems incorrect and ahistorical to me, given that the rough breathing was not pronounced after the Hellenistic Period. (From the rough breathing article, "It remained in the polytonic orthography even after the Hellenistic period, when the sound disappeared from the Greek language.") We would not put such a pronunciation in an article for a modern Greek personage (even during the period when the use of polytonic orthography was still in effect), so I think we should not put it here for a medieval personage whose title ὁ Μαθηματικός was not pronounced during his lifetime (or in the byzantine centuries following) as "ho Mathēmatikós." Piledhighandeep (talk) 01:51, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Hi Piledhighandeep! You are quite right in that medieval Greek phonetics were essentially like the modern ones. The problem is that "Léōn ho Mathēmatikós or ho Philósophos" is a transliteration rather than a purely phonetic rendering, and in this context, just as it makes sense to distinguish omega from omikron or eta from iota (or epsilon, for that matter), IMO it is better to retain the accents as well. I am sadly not well versed in IPA to provide an accurate phonetic guide. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 07:42, 22 August 2016 (UTC)
Ok. I guess these transliterations have always been a pet peeve of mine, since they seem inconsistent in application. (Hagia Sophia for a church that was never, even on the day it was opened, pronounced with an "H," that is a rough breathing, as the standard transliteration suggests, but Agia Paraskevi, for a place in Modern Greece that is likewise not pronounced with a rough breathing.) Piledhighandeep (talk) 07:51, 22 August 2016 (UTC)
I know, but full consistency is something that can never be realized. Specifically for the medieval Greek names, the consensus around WP for some time now has been to follow the transliteration standard of the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, which in itself is not entirely consistent, but has an internal logic that provides a mid-point between the Latinizations common for ancient Greek names and the quasi-phonetic rendering of the modern Greek names. I must confess that I am not quite prepared to use "Vassilios II" for Basil II or "vasilefs" rather than basileus, so it sort of works for me ;). Constantine ✍ 08:50, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

New cat.

Hi Constantine, I made a new category (Category:Byzantine people of Iranian descent). As you're better versed regarding the wide array of Byzantine articles, would you mind adding it there where needed? Thanks much. - LouisAragon (talk) 03:36, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

Sure thing, LouisAragon! Good idea! Constantine ✍ 07:17, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

A concern

This looks familiar. --Kansas Bear (talk) 22:43, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

Hah, that's a new kind of vandalism for me... Thanks for the heads up, but I suppose whoever it is won't escape being indefblocked for much longer. In case this lasts more than 24h, is there a procedure for such cases or can I go ahead and blank the userpage? Constantine ✍ 22:51, 27 August 2016 (UTC)
That is what I was wondering. I believe a formal complaint by you to an Admin should suffice. --Kansas Bear (talk) 23:10, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

Ex nihilo

Hello, Constantine -- I stumbled upon the article Ex nihilo and made a few copy-edits as I read it. I thought I'd mention three things to you; maybe if you have time and interest you can work on them:

1) In the second and third paragraphs in the section Ex nihilo#History, there are two "citation needed" tags. The first one has been there since April 2010.

2) The phrases ex nihilo and creatio ex nihilo appear initially in italics, but later on in the article they sometimes do not. According to MOS:FOREIGNITALIC,

If looking for a good rule of thumb, do not italicize words that appear in Merriam-Webster Online,

and ex nihilo appears in Merriam-Webster Online. What do you recommend for the text formatting of these phrases in this article?

  • in italics throughout
  • in Roman (regular) font throughout
  • in italics at first use (and perhaps first use after the lead) and Roman font thereafter, or
  • some other arrangement

3) This is a tough subject, but I think an effort should be made to ensure that most of the article is comprehensible by an average, fairly educated person. Checkingfax has pointed out that the average Wikipedia reader is between the ages of 10 and 17, if I remember correctly. In that light, I wonder if you would take a look at the second paragraph of the section Ex nihilo#Modern physical (perhaps this heading needs filling out a bit?), which I will copy here:

  • The paper "Spontaneous creation of the Universe Ex Nihilo" provides a model for a way the Universe could have been created from pure 'nothing' in information terms.

I think there should be some explanation (more than the title) of what paper is being referred to here; also, I think "in information terms" is a bit sophisticated, don't you? I think this sentence needs to be brought down a notch from academic writing.

I thought you might be interested in working on this, but if not, you or I can copy this to the article's talk page. Best regards,  – Corinne (talk) 23:28, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

Hi, Corinne. If I recall correctly, 25% of our readers and editors are between the ages of 10 and 17; 50% between 17 and 35; 25% between 35 and 85. Cheers! {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 07:26, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Siege of Syracuse (877–878)

The article Siege of Syracuse (877–878) you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 7 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:Siege of Syracuse (877–878) for things which need to be addressed. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Mr rnddude -- Mr rnddude (talk) 13:21, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

Crispo

Dear Constantine, good day and thank you for taking such keen interest in my edits.

Thank you for bringing to my attention certain guidelines with explanations, which I should better myself and my edits from.

Albeit, you revised my edit, though, I ask, why was the page from where I had received my information not edited as mine was, though I understand your point, had not the page I viewed, not had a reliable source.

Perhaps you know who poisoned Duke Giovanni III Crispo?

Efcharisto,

"Desira1585 (talk) 15:47, 28 August 2016 (UTC)" Cdesira

Hello Desira1585. The problem is that when an article says something for a considerable period of time, and then an editor out of the blue changes it to say something else entirely, then in all likelihood the second edit is erroneous. There were no sources in the original version of the article, but in my experience this mini-articles on Crusader rulers in Greece have been lifted straight from William Miller or similar historians. You coming along and changing the text, which has remained unchallenged for very long, to read something else, and then again something different a third time (you have now introduced the Ottomans into the picture), without a source, does not inspire confidence in the accuracy of your information. As of now, you have been reverted three times already. Per WP:BRD please either provide sources to back up your changes or refrain from repeating them. Otherwise you will get blocked. Constantine ✍ 16:45, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
I've rewritten the article making use of a WP:RS. Needless to say, there is little evidence of "a combination of unsavoury Venetian, Elite Orthodox and Ottoman interests while protecting his sovereignty and duchy from outside political interferences, in addition to successfully protecting Salic law and Crispo family interests". Please familiarize yourself with Wikipedia guidelines on WP:OR, WP:RS, and WP:VERIFY. Constantine ✍ 17:04, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

Question about medieval coins

Hello old friend. Do you know what the policy is on images of medieval coins? Are they considered public domain? I'm assuming you've uploaded your share of such images. I was looking to add coin pics to the Salih ibn Mirdas and Numayrid dynasty articles. I've found coins for both the former and the latter, but not sure how I should proceed. --Al Ameer (talk) 21:30, 28 August 2016 (UTC)

Hello Al Ameer, nice to see you! Indeed I have uploaded quite a few, but copyright is tricky. In theory, they are 3D objects, hence the copyright belongs to the photographer. I generally use the http://www.cngcoins.com/ website, which has generously licensed re-use on Wikipedia. You can see an example here. Otherwise you can always upload a file locally to Wikipedia rather than commons under a fair use tag, but with coins it is likely to get deleted as "non-essential". The numismatics.org website you link above may have a suitable license as well, but better run it through the copyright noticeboards here and/or in Commons first. I hope that was helpful. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 22:02, 28 August 2016 (UTC)
Thanks for the pointers Constantine. I'll look into the numismatics.com website, but I have a feeling they don't have a suitable license because they put watermarks on all of their images. I'll see what the Commons noticeboards have to say. Cheers --Al Ameer (talk) 18:23, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Siege of Syracuse (877–878)

The article Siege of Syracuse (877–878) you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Siege of Syracuse (877–878) for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Mr rnddude -- Mr rnddude (talk) 22:01, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

Books & Bytes - Issue 18

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 18, June–July 2016
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi, Samwalton9, UY Scuti, and Sadads

  • New donations - Edinburgh University Press, American Psychological Association, Nomos (a German-language database), and more!
  • Spotlight: GLAM and Wikidata
  • TWL attends and presents at International Federation of Library Associations conference, meets with Association of Research Libraries
  • OCLC wins grant to train librarians on Wikimedia contribution

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:25, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

Detail of the place Kharistan

I think saying modern northern Afghanistan, is too vague, I would like to say "Kharistan, near Sheberghan, West of Balkh", I think this is much better as it gives the reader a good refence point which Balkh, the main city of Tokharistan. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 22:23, 4 September 2016 (UTC)

Hi Alexis Ivanov! I've tweaked the infobox and included a reference to Maymanah per Gibb, but omitted the "west of Balkh" since this is useless to most people, whereas the average reader should have a vague idea where Afghanistan is. Why did you pick Sheberghan? So you have a source for another location of Kharistan? Constantine ✍ 14:55, 7 September 2016 (UTC)
Oh I should have been more clear, I have taken that from Hisham's article in Ency. Islam Volume 3, Page 493. That is the closest thing of Kharistan I have seen, I presume it is a town or small city while Maymanah and Sheberghan are medium to large urban centers. Also I recommend checking the article titled "Djūzdjān" from volume 2, page 602 it mentions the battle very briefly since it occurred in this district. The same article in Iranica is lacking in depth of the history but the geography is similar, although Iranica is more precise I believe in terms of the naming, it gives old and modern naming convention. The capital of the district of Juzjan was Sheperghan, which is attached to the Tukharistan region/province. If you don't want to put in the infobox you can put it in the article itself, which is fine by me. Alexis Ivanov (talk) 03:50, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
Hmm, I don't see how this information supersedes what is already in the article. Kharistan was in Juzjan, so obviously it was west of Balkh. The capital of Juzjan at the time in question is unclear, and so far the only reference I have concerning the site of Kharistan is Gibb, which is already in the article. Blankinship likewise only mentions Gibb. I cannot find the Iranica article on Juzjan. Until something more concrete emerges, I intend to leave it as it presently is. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 16:14, 11 September 2016 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue CXXV, September 2016

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 13:27, 7 September 2016 (UTC)

Mithridatid/Pontic dynasty

Hi Constantine, I just created this article. However, upon working on the matter, I kinda felt that I need to refresh the detailed history of this particular era. Therefore, as I don't really feel "very" comfortable with this scope atm, I was wondering, if you don't mind, whether I could hand you this article over? Atm, I haven't added it to any other article, so its an orphan as well. I've added the most important sources for a start, and a simple infobox as well. I initially named the article "Mithridatid dynasty", but it seemed as if "Pontic dynasty" is actualy far more commonly used (per WP:COMMONNAME) compared to Mithridatid dynasty. But... amongst that much lower number of authors who often refer to it as the Mithridatids, there are some of, apparantly, the most important authors regarding this topic (e.g. Brian McGing). So I'm kinda at odds regarding that as well. So yeah, could you perhaps adopt it and help a bloke out? :-) - LouisAragon (talk) 01:09, 9 September 2016 (UTC)

Btw, are there any Byzantine-related matters/figures/events/etc that really need to get created? Anything from late antiquity and on, that's basically my most preferred "niche", at the moment. Please let me know, and I'll be glad to help you out. - LouisAragon (talk) 01:09, 9 September 2016 (UTC)
Hi LouisAragon! The article looks good so far. Regarding the name, I would prefer the term "Mithridatic", since the dynasty did not only rule over Pontus only, and because Mithridates VI is rather better known than the kingdom he ruled over, so that the name more readily brings the correct associations to mind than the geographic/state name. On the Byzantine articles, there are a host of articles you can write. The simplest way would probably be to start going through the PLRE and fill it out as you go ;). Whenever I've tried this, however, I became bored very quickly, as most figures are simply too obscure and it gets too repetitive. There's also Portal:Byzantine Empire/Missing articles, which contains some rather more "interesting" or useful articles, that are already redlinked elsewhere in WP. I can't really point you to any articles that need to be written, but e.g. you could fill out the individual members of the Apion (family), the missing commanders of both sides in the Lazic War, etc. Period-wise, I think the 5th century is the most under-represented and in need of work, because it is rather less interesting (I know I at least haven't done much work on it). Thanks in advance for whatever you choose to do :). Cheers, Constantine ✍ 11:37, 9 September 2016 (UTC)
Constantine,
For some reason I didn't receive any notification. Excuse me thus for my belated response! >.<
- I concur, I'll change it to Mithridatic then.
- I'm actually gonna save the part of your response regarding what articles could be made to my sandbox, so that I can review it at any time. Haha. I'm already seeing several nice suggestions in the list on the Byzantine-Portal page, and the Apion family seems certainly interesting as well. Thanks much for the great constructive response (as always). - LouisAragon (talk) 00:25, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Battle of Kharistan

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Battle of Kharistan you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Ealdgyth -- Ealdgyth (talk) 14:21, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Battle of Kharistan

The article Battle of Kharistan you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 7 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:Battle of Kharistan for things which need to be addressed. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Ealdgyth -- Ealdgyth (talk) 18:01, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Battle of Kharistan

The article Battle of Kharistan you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Battle of Kharistan for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Ealdgyth -- Ealdgyth (talk) 13:01, 12 September 2016 (UTC)

Congratulations!

 The Military history A-Class medal with oak leaves 
On behalf of the Wikiproject Military history coordinators, I'm pleased to award you the A-Class Medal with Oakleaves for your excellent work on Theodore Komnenos Doukas, Ahmad ibn Tulun, and Siege of Kamarja. Anotherclown (talk) 23:29, 13 September 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, Anotherclown, and thanks to the other reviewers as well. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 06:13, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

Military history WikiProject coordinator election

Greetings from the Military history WikiProject! Elections for the Military history WikiProject Coordinators are currently underway, and as a member of the WikiProject you are cordially invited to take part by casting your vote(s) for the candidates on the election page. This year's election will conclude at 23:59 UTC 23 September. For the Coordinators, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:01, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

Dardanus (city)

Hello, Constantine -- I was just looking at the article Dardanus (city), and I came across a sentence that didn't sound right. I made a small edit to try and clarify it, but there is still something wrong. Here is the sentence as it is now:

  • At the time of the geographer Strabo, the city of Dardanus stood one mile south of the headland of Dardanis, the point at which the Hellespont, as the strait is now called, after the name of the city, the Dardanelles, begins to narrow.

The phrase "after the name of the city, the Dardanelles" seems misplaced, or the sentence needs re-wording. The present wording makes it sound like the Dardanelles is the name of the city, and I don't think that's correct. Can you clarify this sentence?  – Corinne (talk) 00:31, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Sudden disappearance.

Where have you been last week, I didn't see much activity in your account, hopefully everything is good Alexis Ivanov (talk) 18:15, 30 September 2016 (UTC)

Hi Alexis Ivanov, everything is fine, but I was in China on a (mostly) business trip and both internet access as well as time to check up on WP was on short supply :). Constantine ✍ 18:54, 30 September 2016 (UTC)
Hopefully it was an excellent trip, glad you are back in full force. :) Alexis Ivanov (talk) 01:02, 1 October 2016 (UTC)

Matthew the Apostle

Hello, Constantine -- If you have time, would you mind looking at this edit to Matthew the Apostle? Is this change correct?  – Corinne (talk) 23:47, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

Hi Corinne, yes, it is correct. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 18:31, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

O.K. Thanks! Does that mean that in the Greek form of the name, the first "t" in "Matthew" was pronounced as a "t", with the second being part of the "th", like "Mat-thious"?  – Corinne (talk) 18:36, 3 October 2016 (UTC)
Yes, a transliteration/phonetic approximation would be Mat-thaeos. Constantine ✍ 12:07, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

thanks

Please say hello to the big graveyard in Vienna for me, I was there some years ago (I'll remember the name when I am away from the computer I know). Dimadick was saying you were behind the Byzantine work. Thanks for that. It has been needed for a long time. JarrahTree 13:29, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

Thank you, it is true that something like this was needed, but there are really not many editors active in the area to sustain an entire project. After long hesitation I started the TF to simply allow for the tagging of articles and provide a central point for administrative tasks. Let's hope it will encourage participation as well, and then we can see about upgrading it to a full project. Your greetings to the Zentralfriedhof will have to wait until the spring, probably, when the weather is actually nice enough for a visit, but I'll keep it in mind ;). Cheers, Constantine ✍ 17:55, 6 October 2016 (UTC)
Zentralfriedhof/// - ahh yes, there was something amazing about the place...
Byzantium - I do hope there is enough interest to assist and move it to project status - my medieval history units at university a very long time ago started the interest, and walking around Istanbul for very long distances in october 2009, (and the james bond movie with the start wandering across rooftops there) - have kept my interest up JarrahTree 15:06, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue CXXVI, October 2016

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 14:17, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

No idea on who to ping ...

But you're probably the closest. Anaxandrides - obviously has references, but I am not a subject matter specialist to decipher them. And it seems to me that it might be a copy-paste from elsewhere, but I don't have the subject knowledge to begin to guess where... Ealdgyth - Talk 16:33, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

Invitation to Women in Food and Drink editathon


November 2016

An opportunity for you and your country to contribute to the
Women in Food and Drink online editathon
Faciliated by Women in Red

--Ipigott (talk) 10:37, 14 October 2016 (UTC)

(To subscribe, Women in Red/Invite list. Unsubscribe, Women in Red/Opt-out list)

Asian 10,000 Challenge invite

Hi. The Wikipedia:WikiProject Asia/The 10,000 Challenge has recently started, based on the UK/Ireland Wikipedia:The 10,000 Challenge and Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/The 10,000 Challenge. The idea is not to record every minor edit, but to create a momentum to motivate editors to produce good content improvements and creations and inspire people to work on more countries than they might otherwise work on. There's also the possibility of establishing smaller country or regional challenges for places like South East Asia, Japan/China or India etc, much like Wikipedia:The 1000 Challenge (Nordic). For this to really work we need diversity and exciting content and editors from a broad range of countries regularly contributing. At some stage we hope to run some contests to benefit Asian content, a destubathon perhaps, aimed at reducing the stub count would be a good place to start, based on the current Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/The Africa Destubathon which has produced near 200 articles in just three days. If you would like to see this happening for Asia, and see potential in this attracting more interest and editors for the country/countries you work on please sign up and being contributing to the challenge! This is a way we can target every country of Asia, and steadily vastly improve the encyclopedia. We need numbers to make this work so consider signing up as a participant! Thank you. --Ser Amantio di NicolaoChe dicono a Signa?Lo dicono a Signa. 01:31, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

Argyros dynasty

Γιατί διέγραψε ότι ανέβασα για την οικογένεια των Αργυρων? Γιατί τα θεωρισες άχρηστα? Katechis303 (talk) 21:52, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

Διότι ένα infobox σε ένα τόσο μικρό άρθρο δεν είναι τίποτα άλλο παρά διακόσμηση, και ως εκ τούτου δεν προσφέρει τίποτα. Ιδιαίτερα δε όταν σε τόσο μικρό χώρο συμπεριλήφθηκαν ορισμένες σοβαρές ανακρίβειες και λάθη. Έτσι λ.χ. οι Αργυροί μπορεί μεν να ήταν μια αριστοκρατική οικογένεια, αλλά δεν ήταν ποτέ "δυναστεία", καθώς ο μόνος βασιλέας από την οικογένεια, ο Ρωμανός Γ', κατείχε τη θέση δια της συζύγου του, και έτσι ήταν μέλος της Μακεδονικής δυναστείας. Επιπλέον, το Μέγα Παλάτιο δεν ήταν κτήμα της οικογένειας, κλπ. Σχετικά με το οικόσημου που ανέβασες πρόσφατα, είναι ανιστορικό εφεύρημα και δεν έχει θέση εδώ. Διάβασε παρακαλώ το άρθρο Byzantine flags and insignia και τη σελίδα συζήτησής του σχετικά με όλα αυτά τα οικόσημα βυζαντινών οικογενειών που έχουν κατακλύσει το ίντερνετ. Η Βικιπαίδεια είναι εγκυκλοπαίδεια, όχι μπλογκ, και έτσι απαιτείται η χρήση αξιόπιστων πηγών, και μόνο επαληθεύσιμο περιεχόμενο επιτρέπεται. Constantine ✍ 06:28, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

Με έχεις πρήξει. Αλήθεια Katechis303 (talk) 12:41, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

Σοβαρά? Τι μου λες.... Ενώ ή δική σου επιμονή να προσθέσεις ανιστορικά πράγματα σε μία εγκυκλοπαίδεια σε πλήρη αντίθεση με τους κανόνες της και τη στοιχειώδη ιστορική δεοντολογία δεν είναι καθόλου προβληματική.... Αν δεν καταλαβαίνεις ότι δεν υπάρχουν πηγές για αυτά που γράφεις, και ότι τα μπλογκ που παραθέτεις μόνο αξιόπιστες πηγές δεν είναι (ως επί το πλείστον αναπαράγουν ή μία την άλλη και εξαρχής βασίζονται στην ύπαρξη των εικόνων αυτών στην Βικιπαίδεια), τότε δε σου φταίω εγώ που κάνω τη δουλειά μου και τα αναιρώ. Αν το καταλαβαίνεις και δεν σε ενδιαφέρει, τότε δεν έχεις δουλειά εδώ. Δεν μου αρέσει να γράφω έτσι απότομα, αλλά έτσι έχει η κατάσταση. Constantine ✍ 13:51, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

Που να πληρώσουν κιόλας Katechis303 (talk) 17:23, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

Α, δηλαδή μόνο αν κάποιος πληρώνεται πρέπει να ελέγχει αν αυτά που γράφει σε μια εγκυκλοπαίδεια (ή εν γένει δημοσίως) αντιστοιχούν και στην πραγματικότητα και στηρίζονται σε αξιόπιστες πηγές. Ομολογώ ότι αγνοούσα αυτόν τον κανόνα. Constantine ✍ 17:43, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

Καλα. Κανε μου μήνυση Katechis303 (talk) 21:01, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

Καλό σου βράδυ και καλή συνέχεια. Constantine ✍ 22:42, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

Demetrios Alexatos

I have been searching for a Νεκρολογία for Δημήτριος Αλεξάτος. Can you find any dates he was born or died?--Kintetsubuffalo (talk) 10:11, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

Hi Kintetsubuffalo! He appears to be very rarely mentioned in the press (at least, the parts that are accessible online), and the only thing I could find was this, which suggests he died on 8 April 2001, at the age of 81. A query at the Greek WP would probably get you more results, as people there will have more easy access to printed sources. Cheers, Constantine ✍ 11:03, 23 October 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Europe/The 10,000 Challenge

Hi, can I interest you in this or a 1000 Challenge for Greece?♦ Dr. Blofeld 20:42, 26 October 2016 (UTC)

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Roman fortifications in Roman Macedonia

You redirected this category to "Roman fortifications in Macedonia" saying that no disambiguation was necessary. I disagree. The region of Macedonia is much wider than the province of Macedonia. So there are forts in wider Macedonia would actually be located in Thrace or Moesia (as they were known at the time). Disambiguation is necessary. Laurel Lodged (talk) 11:45, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

Hi Laurel Lodged! You have a point re the disambiguation; but I hope you agree that the name was rather awkward. More than that, however, the more I think about it, the category itself as it stands is problematic. What exactly constitutes "Roman Macedonia"? The Macedonia province of the late Republic? The Augustan province (minus Epirus vetus)? The Diocletianian provinces of Macedonia I and II? Is Thessaly included, which was on and off part of the province? What about some of the Aegean islands? Your definition of "Roman Macedonia"="province of Macedonia" is therefore very ambiguous, and contains many areas that are not really in "Macedonia" at all. If we take a rather narrow, and unambiguously "correct" definition of "Roman Macedonia", then this simply means "Macedonia under Roman rule", and that Macedonia is essentially the core of the ancient Kingdom, i.e. Old Macedonia and Upper Macedonia, a territory roughly equal to the two late Roman Macedonian provinces. This is approximately the same as the "modern" region of Macedonia, give or take some border areas. This is also what I would personally recommend, as the term least leading to confusion for us and our readers. Constantine ✍ 12:26, 29 October 2016 (UTC)
We're agreed that disambiguation is necessary. Good. As to which Roman province is intended, I've been using the status of the Empire at its greatest extent under Trajan (116 AD). It's as good a time as any. I don't like the picture of the provinces under Diocletian. It's too messy. They stopped being provinces and became just districts or sub-regions. So I'm happy to relegate them to Category:Late Roman provinces. In between, however, there was some ambiguity. For example, Roman Armenia was created by Trajan just before his death and didn't survive in its original state for long after his death. So in Macedonia's case, I'm happy for a scope note to be written saying what it includes and excludes at 117 AD. What do you think? Laurel Lodged (talk) 14:04, 29 October 2016 (UTC)
Hmm, I am rather opposed to use political boundaries at a fixed point in time, because the "Roman" period lasted for so much longer than these boundaries. As I wrote above, if one sees the term "Roman Macedonia", one understands "the region of Macedonia under [the entire period of] Roman rule", not "the province of Macedonia as it stood in 117 AD" (or at any other point in time). Applying other interpretations of our own are IMO in violation of primary topic and common sense. The same applies to terms like "Roman Britain", "Roman Thrace", etc. I agree that having categories for each of the Diocletianian provinces is overkill, but one should note that these provinces in many ways were far more long-lasting than the provinces of the Principate that you prefer to rely on; for instance, most of the provinces in Asia Minor went without major boundary changes from the late 3rd century all the way to the early 9th century, and in ecclesiastical organization they survived even longer. I would very much prefer to keep the scope in relatively broad geographic areas, e.g. "Roman Thrace", "Roman Britain" etc. precisely because we avoid the ambiguity inherent in trying to define exact borders, and because these terms are not accidental: they usually refer to real geographical, cultural, etc. macro-regions, rather than the arbitrarily defined borders of a Roman province. I don't know if you have access to the excellent Historical Atlas of the Ancient World, in the New Pauly series, but it gives a very good idea of the bewildering series of provincial boundary changes in the 1st century BC–1st century AD for many areas. The problem is very well demonstrated in "Roman Armenia": it does not simply refer to the Trajanic province of Armenia (i.e. the Kingdom of Armenia, or Armenia Magna), but also the Armenian areas to the west of the Euphrates (Armenia Minor) that came under Roman rule early on, and after the 4th century, the parts of Armenia Magna that again came under Roman/Byzantine rule. So again, trying to equate the term with a specific snapshot in time is not productive as it tries to impose an artificial (and incorrect) definition on the subject. Long story short, "Roman NNN" is not, and should not be interpreted as, a shorthand for "Roman province of NNN in the year 117". Constantine ✍ 14:35, 29 October 2016 (UTC)
I hear what you're saying but wonder how this is compatible with the "Cat Main" template, in most cases, pointing to a particular province at a particular point in time. Shouldn't the category reflect the main article? Laurel Lodged (talk) 19:47, 30 October 2016 (UTC)
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