Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806)/archive1

TFA blurb review

The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 806 CE was an attack by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire in southeastern and central Asia Minor. Soon after his accession in 802, the Byzantine emperor, Nikephoros I, ceased paying tribute to the Caliphate, and attacked it. In retaliation, Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid caliph, invaded Byzantium with a force far larger than any seen before. The Abbasid army met no opposition and raided at will, capturing several towns and fortresses, including Herakleia, whose fall was celebrated by the Caliph's propaganda. Nikephoros was forced to seek peace and resume paying tribute. Harun exacted a personal tax on the Emperor and his heir, Staurakios, as a token of their submission, and withdrew. Almost immediately Nikephoros violated the peace terms, but Harun's preoccupation with a rebellion prevented reprisal. Harun's death, the Abbasid civil war, and Nikephoros' Bulgarian wars prevented the resumption of large-scale warfare for two decades. (Full article...)

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Hi Constantine and congratulations. A draft blurb for this article is above. Thoughts, comments and edits from you or from anyone else interested are welcome. Gog the Mild (talk) 21:30, 14 January 2020 (UTC)

Hi Gog the Mild, thanks. How about:

In 806 CE, the Abbasid Caliphate launched a large-scale invasion of the Byzantine Empire in southeastern and central Asia Minor. Soon after his accession in 802, the Byzantine emperor, Nikephoros I, ceased paying tribute to the Caliphate, and attacked it. In retaliation, Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid caliph, invaded Byzantium with a force far larger than any seen before. The Abbasid army met no opposition and raided at will, capturing several towns and fortresses, most notably Herakleia, whose fall was celebrated by the Caliph's propaganda. Nikephoros was forced to seek peace and a return to status quo ante by resuming tribute. Harun exacted a personal tax on the Emperor and his heir, Staurakios, as a token of their submission, and withdrew. Almost immediately Nikephoros violated the peace terms, but Harun's preoccupation with a rebellion prevented reprisal. Harun's death, the Abbasid civil war, and Nikephoros' Bulgarian wars prevented the resumption of similar invasions for two decades. (Full article...)

Cheers, Constantine ✍ 12:13, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

Hi Cplakidas: I could live with that, but being a little picky, I would normally want to keep untranslated foreign language expressions off the main page, however obvious they are to us. And "Nikephoros was forced to seek peace and resume paying tribute" seems, to me, to convey the same information. Even more pickily, it's not clear to me how Nikephoros being busy in Bulgaria "prevented the resumption of similar invasions". Surely that would be more likely to encourage it?

Copying Dank in for info. Dank, is it OK to have the actual title of the article not even approximated in the first sentence? Constantine's version does flow well, and save characters, but I am guessing that there is policy above my paygrade on this.

Cheers, Gog the Mild (talk) 13:44, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

Thanks Gog. The first link has to be bolded and has to have the exact name of the article (before the pipe, if there is one), or it confuses the bot. - Dank (push to talk) 13:47, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

@Gog the Mild and Dank: how about:

The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 806 CE was a major attack by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire in southeastern and central Asia Minor. Soon after his accession in 802, the Byzantine emperor, Nikephoros I, ceased paying tribute to the Caliphate, and attacked it. In retaliation, Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid caliph, invaded Byzantium with a force far larger than any seen before. The Abbasid army met no opposition and raided at will, capturing several towns and fortresses, most notably Herakleia, whose fall was celebrated by the Caliph's propaganda. Nikephoros was forced to seek peace and resume paying tribute. Harun exacted a personal tax on the Emperor and his heir, Staurakios, as a token of their submission, and withdrew. Almost immediately Nikephoros violated the peace terms, but Harun's preoccupation with a rebellion prevented reprisal. Harun's death, the Abbasid civil war, and Nikephoros' Bulgarian wars prevented the resumption of large-scale warfare for two decades. (Full article...)

This comes at 1024 characters, just under the limit. Constantine ✍ 15:37, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

Constantine. that looks fine to me. I'll let Dank chip in, and if they are happy I'll check the links etc and then swap it in. Gog the Mild (talk) 16:37, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

I'm discussing a couple of things with Gog ... I trust his judgment. - Dank (push to talk) 17:01, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

Specifically: I think we should lose "major" and "most notably". In other news: taking a short wikibreak to deal with some urgent stuff, back soon. - Dank (push to talk) 17:20, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

'I trust Gog's judgement'. Then take a Wiki-break. He's right though. Gog the Mild (talk) 18:43, 15 January 2020 (UTC)

@Gog the Mild and Dank: I've revised accordingly:

The Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 806 CE was an attack by the Abbasid Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire in southeastern and central Asia Minor. Soon after his accession in 802, the Byzantine emperor, Nikephoros I, ceased paying tribute to the Caliphate, and attacked it. In retaliation, Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid caliph, invaded Byzantium with a force far larger than any seen before. The Abbasid army met no opposition and raided at will, capturing several towns and fortresses, including Herakleia, whose fall was celebrated by the Caliph's propaganda. Nikephoros was forced to seek peace and resume paying tribute. Harun exacted a personal tax on the Emperor and his heir, Staurakios, as a token of their submission, and withdrew. Almost immediately Nikephoros violated the peace terms, but Harun's preoccupation with a rebellion prevented reprisal. Harun's death, the Abbasid civil war, and Nikephoros' Bulgarian wars prevented the resumption of large-scale warfare for two decades. (Full article...)

Cheers, Constantine ✍ 14:13, 16 January 2020 (UTC)

Done! Gog the Mild (talk) 18:36, 16 January 2020 (UTC)

Thanks to both of you! Constantine ✍ 21:10, 16 January 2020 (UTC)

Constantine, why are we using a depiction of Siege of Syracuse (877–878)? Ping @Gog the Mild and Dank:. --- C&C (Coffeeandcrumbs) 05:00, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

Remnants of Hiraqla, a victory monument erected by Harun al-Rashid

I was thinking of changing to this. --- C&C (Coffeeandcrumbs) 05:12, 7 April 2020 (UTC)

@Coffeeandcrumbs:, Constantine hasn't edited in a while. As the main blurb writer for this article it was probably me who included the inappropriate image in the draft. Your suggestion is better; and is in the article. Gog the Mild (talk) 11:27, 7 April 2020 (UTC)