Talk:Siege of Taormina (902)

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Siege of Taormina (902) article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Siege of Taormina (902) has been listed as one of the Warfare good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Review: June 27, 2022. (Reviewed version).

Military history: European / Italian / Roman & Byzantine / Medieval / Early Muslim

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles

Associated task forces:
/
	European military history task force
	Italian military history task force (c. 500–present)
	Roman and Byzantine military history task force
	Medieval warfare task force (c. 500 – c. 1500)
	Early Muslim military history task force (c. 600 – c. 1600)

Middle Ages Low‑importance

	Middle Ages portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Middle Ages, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the Middle Ages on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Middle AgesWikipedia:WikiProject Middle AgesTemplate:WikiProject Middle AgesMiddle Ages articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Sicily High‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Sicily, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Sicily on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SicilyWikipedia:WikiProject SicilyTemplate:WikiProject SicilySicily articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Italy Low‑importance

	Italy portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Italy, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Italy on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ItalyWikipedia:WikiProject ItalyTemplate:WikiProject ItalyItaly articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Greece: Byzantine Low‑importance

	Greece portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Greece, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Greek history on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.GreeceWikipedia:WikiProject GreeceTemplate:WikiProject GreeceGreek articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the Byzantine world task force.

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Siege of Taormina (902)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Zawed (talk · contribs) 00:41, 22 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I will review this one, comments to follow in due course. Zawed (talk) 00:41, 22 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Lead

Reads OK, no issues identified

Background

launched repeated raids there in the 880s,...: the present sentence structure makes it sound as though the raids were on Syracuse as opposed to the northeast area of Sicily.
- Fixed.
Link Palermo, Constantinople
- Done.
A great number of the rebels...: which side were deemed to be the rebels? Arabs or Berbers? Maybe also clarify which of these held Palermo?
- Clarified, in that we don't know. The strife had mutated at that point, and although historians propose various interpretations, we don't really have enough info.
...under a certain Michael.: not crazy on the use of "certain". If I understand the context in which you are using it correctly, perhaps "under a warrior/leader (whichever works best with the source) known only as Michael."
- Changed.
Abu'l-Abbas defeated a Byzantine fleet...: you would have probably mentioned it if it was, but for sake of completeness, this is not the same fleet led by Michael?
- Not known. The sources on both sides are somewhat contradictory, e.g. Michael is known only from a local Calabrian hagiography, which claims that he actually won a naval battle against the Aghlabids. So it is difficult to square that with the reports of the Muslim sources.

Ibrahim II's arrival and the fall of Taormina

link caliph, Ifriqiya,
- Done.
...at Trapani on 8 July 902,...: no need for year as 902 is already established in previous paragraph
- Changed.
...the last major Byzantine stronghold on the island.: just to remind reads, suggest "the last major Byzantine stronghold on Sicily."
- Indeed, changed.
...a certain Michael Charaktos: same issue with use of "certain". Shouldn't the surname Charaktos be used at the first mention in previous section?
- Not sure that he is the same person. But removed "certain".
...mourned its fall...: suggest "mourned the fall of Taormina"
- Changed.
...as the rumour started...: no antecedence for the rumour, so should be "as a rumour started"
- Changed.

Aftermath

Reads OK, no issues identified

Other stuff

Image tags OK
No dupe links
Sources look OK but no spot checks done. Note that cite #25 refers to multiple pages (pp) but only a single page is cited.

Thanks it for me. Zawed (talk) 04:40, 25 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Zawed, thanks for taking this on. I think I've addressed your points (thanks for the suggestions!), unless there is anything else. Constantine ✍ 19:16, 25 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

There was one thing missed, which I fixed. This is all good to go now so I am passing as GA as I believe it meets the necessary criteria. Zawed (talk) 09:35, 27 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]