Talk:Siege of Taormina (902)/GA1

GA Review

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

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

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)

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)

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)