User talk:G.W./Archive 6

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Veyne on Constantine I and the Crispus / Fausta affair.

You asked me about whether the resons given in the article to Constantine's joint executions of Crispus & Fausta were given by Paul Veyne or myself. What I did was to develop the Veyne's commentary in "Quand notre monde est devenu chrétien", page 113.

I translate the text into English from the original French.Veyne discusses the reasons for Constantine's deathbed baptism:

"Baptism effacing all anterior sins, one can suppose that Constantine postponed it because he had on his conscience the murders of his wife Fausta and his promising bastard Crispus - provided these murders, whose reason we ignore, were taken by Constantine himself as sins, something one can doubt about. After at least six hundred years, it was admitted ("as one admits the postulates of geometry", wrote Plutarch [Life of Demetrios the Beseiger, III,5]) that in a reigning family the murder of one's close relatives was admissible as a means to assure the interests of the throne, and one would see worse after the death of Constantine himself [foootnote on Gibbon's account of the "promiscuous massacre" of the princes of the house of Constantine after Constantius II's acession].

I did not quote from this specific text, but from Veyne's "L'Empire Gréco-Romain", in the chapter on "What is a Roman Emperor", where he writes thus: "Political life in the Roman Empire was superficial, consisting mostly [...] of struggles between bigwigs [...] Therefore an usurpation was to be feared on the slightest pretext: if one of the Emperor's relatives had a far too successful career, 'it was clear that he would eventually disturb civil peace'"[Ammianus Marcellinus,XXVI, 6,1]".

I leave for you to decide whether the two texts warrant my personal interpretation.And many thanks for the interest and the trouble taken in correcting meCerme (talk) 15:17, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I saw your throughly and well-reasoned reply, and will think about adding something that suits Wikipedia's need for compression. As for "bigwig", Veyne's original French says "combats de chefs" (L'Empire Gréco-Romain, 46). That poses a problem for translation into English, specially for someone like me, whose native language is neither English nor French. What I pondered is that "chef" standed for the idea of social preeminence and informal leadership, and therefore could not be translated as "leader", which is far more formal. "Boss" would perhaps be a better choice, but I wondered that it could carry with it the idea of a formal economic authority associated with the common idea of a capitalist employer. Veyne was, I believe, also trying to convey into French the concept of informal social authority tied to various Latin terms such as "honestiores", "potentes", "boni". Therefore I decided to use "bigwig", even because - or maybe exactly because - of its obsolescence, as it seemed to me to convey better the idea of an acknowledged social preeminence not tied to the actual holding of a political position. Again, thanks for the interestCerme (talk) 13:05, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

I have now added a reference from a recent work by Goldsworthy that seems to me brief and non-speculative enough to sum up the whole affairCerme (talk) 11:40, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Since there's not an available review in English of Veyne's book on Constantine, I have decided to postpone discussing his (implict) views on the Crispus/Fausta affair, and instead to add a brand-new paragraph on Constantine's administrative reforms, which were , in terms of the management of the Roman Empire,almost as important as his religious ones, and which until now were absent from the Wikipedia entry Cerme (talk) 17:50, 12 July 2009 (UTC)

Pardon me for butting in a day late and a dollar short. I found three reviews. The first is very, very short, the second has some actual content, the third I could not get to.
- Sartre, Maurice. "Rev. of Quand notre monde est devenu chretien (312-394)." Biography 30.2 (2007): 259.
- Udoh, Fabian E. "Rev. of Quand notre monde est devenu chretien (312-394)." Theological Studies 69.2 (2008): 473-74
- Ando, Clifford. "Arrayed in her native purity: Quand Notre Monde est Devenu Chretien: 312-394." Times Literary Supplement Feb 22, 2008: 25. Drmies (talk) 03:17, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

Diocletianic Persecution

A very well-written article, I found it fascinating. Congratulations on bringing it to FA. —BillC ^talk 22:20, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you, Bill. Geuiwogbil (Talk) 04:18, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

And now on the main page - congratulations. :) And btw, thanks for the devotion to the tedious work copyediting Constantine. :thumbs up: Varana (talk) 17:13, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

Potter??!

Ooops... yes, the first one: will fix. Thanks for that (and the complimums). Regards! Haploidavey (talk) 22:46, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

I only just noticed your superb work on the Diocletianic Persecution - a real pleasure to read and I linked to it with confidence. Any input (interpretive insight, critical, whatever) to Imp. Cult would be welcome: though I have to say, I'd not be surprised if you were topic-fatigued... Anyhow, really well done. Haploidavey (talk) 23:55, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

DYK for Philip the Arab and Christianity

On November 15, 2009, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Philip the Arab and Christianity, which you created or substantially expanded. You are welcome to check how many hits your article got while on the front page _{(here's how)} and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Materialscientist (talk) 07:21, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Hello. After a broad copyedit, a re-ordering of structure, an improvement of the referencing in places, and a few minor content additions, I think this article is ready for FAC. Since you're the lead content contributor, I thought I'd contact you to hear your thoughts and give you the opportunity to execute the nomination. What do you think? —Anonymous Dissident^Talk 14:48, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

Philip the Arab and Christianity

Are you going to work on the article or should I let the GA review fail? Greetings Wandalstouring (talk) 09:50, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Some notable works on the topic:
Kaizer, Ted; The Variety of Local Religious Life in the Near East in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods; series: Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 164 (Leiden 2008) This book has a very high reputation
[German] Girardet, Klaus M.; Die Konstantinische Wende. Voraussetzungen und geistige Grundlagen der Religionspolitik Konstantins des Großen, Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 2006 (book published by a renown scientific publishing house, shows that various "Christian" emperors weren't, among them Philippus Arabs)

I hope that helps you to solve the NPOV issues. Wandalstouring (talk) 10:07, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

Use descriptions of your edits like every other user, especially if these aren't minor edits. That's a very bad editing style you currently exhibit. A side effect is that it makes it rather difficult for me to see any progress regarding the article. Wandalstouring (talk) 16:33, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Your comments hardly show any progress and make me thus inclined to fail the article. Your apocryphal edit descriptions are useless for another editor. Use short edit descriptions that are telling. Wandalstouring (talk) 11:51, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

As you said, you're not capable of handling this material. Wandalstouring (talk) 12:41, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Start working with the material you have. If you make progress I'll send you the pdf. Wandalstouring (talk) 17:54, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Give the article an understandable structure that is based on scientific opinions as suggested in the review. Do I have to quote it in full? Your edits have not convinced me you are capable of handling the problems on your own within reasonable time, so do try to get some outside help. Wandalstouring (talk) 19:31, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

You're too late. I already requested a second opinion. I always do that before I let an article fail. Wandalstouring (talk) 12:55, 18 December 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion/archive2

A month and a half later (holiday sluggishness and all). Hope things go well. Best, —Anonymous Dissident^Talk 11:55, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

Philip request

Hi, G.W. I haven't looked at the material you pointed me to yet, but I did want note that my first reaction to Diocletianic Persecution was unwarranted, as I apologized later. The article itself was actually quite balanced; it was some wording in the introduction that led me to believe that the article was going to have a Christian bias. Cynwolfe (talk) 15:01, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Coordinator elections have opened!

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Quotes

Hi G.W, I noticed this edit of yours at Ireland 800–1169. Hopefully I've managed to remove all the italics[1], but I'm curious why you added </blockquote> under that quotation - does such marking have any effect without a prior <blockquote>? Best regards, Finn Rindahl (talk) 16:13, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

No problem at all, I'm just grateful your edit made me check WP:MOS and learn about not using italics in quotations before I had added even more of those. This is my first major work here at Wikipedia in English, and there are more rules regarding citations and quotations here than I am used to at Wikipedia in Norwegian. I've still got a lot to learn, which is why I asked about that seemingly redundant marking instead of just removing it. If you notice any other concerns in that article I'd be very grateful for feedback. A native-English speaking editor has agreed to copyedit once I've finished expanding, but I'd naturally rather not leave too many tedious format/style corrections to other users.

Very impressive collection of FA-stars on your user page btw, keep up the good work :) Best regards, Finn Rindahl (talk) 19:07, 29 March 2010 (UTC)

Philip the Arab and Christianity

Hi G.W. I posted something to the peer-review page; I probably shouldn't have but anyway, I did, then thought the following might be more useful here if you needed to confirm (for whatever reason) the exemption of Jews from Imperial edicts on worship:

Smallwood, E., Mary, The Jews under Roman rule: from Pompey to Diocletian: a study in political relations, illustrated, Brill Publishers, 2001. ISBN 0-391-04155-X: covers the situation from the late Republic to Diocletian. I've highlighted "exemption": [2]. Just in case it's relevant to your purposes, Josephus' so-called "Jewish Charter" is disputed. Apparently Judaism's not known as a religio licita until we're told of it by Tertullian. But as I say, that's just in case. There's also:

Momigliano's "On Pagans, Jews and Christians" - more a series of essays and theses, not universally accepted but they make insightful reading and might be useful, even as a partial preview:[3]

You're doing great work. Best regards. Haploidavey (talk) 23:58, 1 April 2010 (UTC)

Thanks, Haploidavey! I will check these out. I actually own Momigliano's On Pagans, Jews and Christians, though I haven't read through the whole thing yet. G.W. (Talk) 01:09, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

I see the article's now promoted to GA. You're truly indefatigable and amazingly positive in the face of hostile comments; I'd have turned my face to the wall after the first attempt! Haploidavey (talk) 12:25, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Thank you! This is probably the fifth time something like this has happened here—it's not so much my "first attempt" any more. It's still disheartening, though. Thanks for your post! It cheered me up. G.W. (Talk) 16:50, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

GA Review of Philip the Arab and Christianity

Hello,

I have started a GA review of Philip the Arab and Christianity as you requested. The article is pretty close to GA status, but I would like to see some minor changes before I pass the article. Please see the review page for more information. --ThaddeusB (talk) 00:11, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

I've updated the review. --ThaddeusB (talk) 01:16, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

This user helped promote Philip the Arab and Christianity to good article status.

I've passed the article. Congratulations! I also left some "final thoughts" on the review page which you probably want to check out. Its been a pleasure reviewing this article, ThaddeusB (talk) 03:31, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Estimates of the number of Christian martyrs during Roman persecutions

I have added this section to Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. Frankly, the section is more of a quotefarm than anything resembling adequate encyclopedic prose. Perhaps you could take a stab at it. Thanx. --Richard S (talk) 06:15, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Revision to Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri articles

I noticed that you have revised either Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri or Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire.

I intend to revise those articles following the Wikipedia:WikiProject Video games/Article guidelines. There are more details on the discussion pages of those articles. I'd be interested in any comments you have. It would be best if your comments were on the discussion pages of the two articles.

Thank you.

Vyeh (talk) 19:59, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Sossianus Hierocles

On June 15, 2010, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Sossianus Hierocles, which you created or substantially expanded. You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check ) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

— Rlevse • Talk • 00:03, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

You are now a Reviewer

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DYK nomination of Ulpian's life table

Hello! Your submission of Ulpian's life table at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Yoninah (talk) 19:59, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Ulpian's life table

On June 17, 2010, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Ulpian's life table, which you created or substantially expanded. You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check ) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

-- Cirt (talk) 12:03, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Roman economy

Email's out. Gun Powder Ma (talk) 07:58, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

AfD nomination of List of 1974 Macropædia articles

An article that you have been involved in editing, List of 1974 Macropædia articles, has been listed for deletion. If you are interested in the deletion discussion, please participate by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of 1974 Macropædia articles (2nd nomination). Thank you.

Please contact me if you're unsure why you received this message. Everard Proudfoot (talk) 20:17, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

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Diocletian

Great article, congrats on being on the main page! SlimVirgin ^{talk|contribs} 21:45, 25 September 2010 (UTC)

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Main page appearance

Hello! This is a note to let the main editors of this article know that it will be appearing as the main page featured article on July 25, 2011. You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 25, 2011. If you think it is necessary to change the main date, you can request it with the featured article directors Raul654 (talk · contribs) or his delegate Dabomb87 (talk · contribs), or at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests. If the previous blurb needs tweaking, you might change it—following the instructions of the suggested formatting. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :D Thanks! Tbhotch.^™ Grammatically incorrect? Correct it! See terms and conditions. 04:55, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Maximian (c. 250 – c. 310) was Roman Emperor from 285 to 305. He was Caesar from 285 to 286, then Augustus from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his co-emperor and superior, Diocletian, whose political brain complemented Maximian's military brawn. Maximian established his residence at Trier but spent most of his time on campaign. From 285 to 288, he fought against Germanic tribes along the Rhine frontier. After Carausius's rebellion in Northern Gaul was put down in 296, Maximian moved south to combat piracy near Hispania and Berber incursions in Mauretania. When these campaigns concluded, he returned to Rome in 299 to receive a triumph. After several years of leisure, he retired as Augustus at Diocletian's request in 305. However, he took up the title once again the following year, joining his son Maxentius in rebellion. After a failed leadership challenge in 307, Maximian fled to the court of Constantine in Trier. At the Council of Carnuntum in November 308, Diocletian forced Maximian to once again renounce his imperial claim. In early 310, Maximian attempted to seize Constantine's title while the emperor was on campaign on the Rhine. Few supported him, and he was captured by Constantine. He committed suicide later that year on Constantine's orders. (more...)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles - Issues

Hi there. You're the largest contributor to the article The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles that is still active on Wikipedia. Recently, and IP mentioned that there was an upcoming FAC for the article when he put it up for copyediting. I took a look at the article, and... well what I saw was an article with a gaping hole. Please view my comment at the bottom of the talk page. I'm going to give that a chance to be fixed, but I'm quite tempted to take it to GAR for failing criteria 3a (major aspects covered).

I'm also notifying Nergaal (inactive) and MuZemike (the GA reviewer).

Thank you for your time. Sven Manguard Wha? 08:09, 7 August 2011 (UTC)