User talk:PericlesofAthens

This user is one of the 4000 most active English Wikipedians of all time.

• 
  Battle of Normandy, June of '44, quite possibly my favorite pic on Wiki.
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  Animated naval gun turret, this pic has to be my favorite animated illustration on wiki.
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  Pangea breaking up into the continents we know today. Amazing.

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Reign of Cleopatra

Hi, PericlesofAthens. I am Unlimitedlead, and I would like to introduce myself. Recently, I acquired a large collection of books, many of which pertain to Cleopatra. For the next few weeks/months, I will be adding citations, sources, and content to the Reign of Cleopatra article, as well as fixing grammatical, formatting, and punctuational errors. It is my sincere wish that we amicably collaborate on the article, and maybe even nominate it as a featured article together. See you around? Unlimitedlead (talk) 19:33, 17 September 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead: Hello! Yes, that sounds fine to me. Thanks for taking an interest in the article and for contacting me about it. I am no longer very active on this website, so please do not get the wrong impression if it takes an incredibly long time for me to reply to any of your queries. It is nice to hear that you have an abundance of scholarly sources at your disposal; that is certainly the key building block! The article can be expanded a bit, but please be cautious about that. Reviewers of Featured article candidates do not like to see longwinded articles on any subject without appropriate justification (see the relevant guidelines at Wikipedia:Article size). I look forward to seeing your proposed amendments and am happy to help with advice or very minor tasks if necessary. Cheers! Pericles of Athens^Talk 22:47, 17 September 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for getting back to me! I will keep your advice in mind when writing and revising the article. Can I ask your opinion on including ancient sources in the article (like Suetonius' The Lives of the Twelve Caesars)? Unlimitedlead (talk) 17:05, 18 September 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Hello again! You are very welcome. I would use such primary sources very sparingly, in most cases as a simple supporting citation or if a source for a particular quotation cannot be found elsewhere. Wikipedia emphasizes the primacy of secondary sources over primary sources, since articles on historical subjects should reflect modern scholarly consensus. On the contrary, a large quantity of ancient primary sources are prone to being riddled with small errors or obvious political biases, and are hence not as reliable without analysis by modern historians who can provide basic fact checking, skepticism, or proper context. For this reason it is rather tricky to use excerpts from primary sources that mention or explain the reign of Cleopatra. I have provided a detailed explanation of this here: Cleopatra#Roman_literature_and_historiography. Take a look at Wikipedia:Reliable sources for general info about primary versus secondary sources. Cheers and best of luck! Pericles of Athens^Talk 12:24, 19 September 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for your reply! I will be sure to keep that in mind as I am editing. One last concern: I noticed that throughout the article, there are many introductory prepositional phrases that lack commas after them. I am aware that commas are optional if the phrase numbers four or less words, but it has made reading much more confusing. Would you be opposed to me adding the appropriate punctuation marks where they belong? Best wishes, Unlimitedlead (talk) 15:41, 19 September 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Feel free to add or remove punctuation as you see fit. I consider it a minor issue and I have no strong preference either way. Kind regards, Pericles of Athens^Talk 18:39, 19 September 2022 (UTC)

Much thanks for your input! I have just gone through and revised all grammar and punctuational issues; despite my previous concerns, it seems that this article can be improved to FA status sooner than I expected! The sources I have selected for the article have done their job, and unless you have further suggestions for improvement (which are encouraged, by the way), I believe that this article should be FA-material in a week or two. Unlimitedlead (talk) 01:17, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead No problem! You're welcome. The article looks good overall, but do make sure that newly added images are properly licensed like the others (i.e., the bust of Octavian). Also, some reviewers might complain about the lengthiness of the lead section, but in my point of view it seems fine. It could perhaps be trimmed a bit, but should arguably include more information given how it fails to summarize or even mention the content in the "Egypt under the monarchy of Cleopatra" section. My concern about the length of the lead was the only reason that I didn't expand it to include a summary of that particular section. I think a single sentence could perhaps be added, but only if the lead is somehow trimmed significantly. It might also be a trivial matter that none of the reviewers will even notice or care about. On another note, your newly cited sources look great! Excellent work. Pericles of Athens^Talk 13:14, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

I will look into that and see what I can do. Thank you! Unlimitedlead (talk) 15:11, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

I just added a sentence on said section and have done my best to cut down on trivial information. In the coming days, I will continue to work on it. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to reach out. Cheers! Unlimitedlead (talk) 23:27, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

Hi, @PericlesofAthens, I have done my best to trim the lead, but unfortunately, its current state is the shortest I can get it without excluding important information. If you are alright with it, I intend on jointly nominating the article with you for FA review sometime this week. Unlimitedlead (talk) 01:09, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Great work! I would be honored to make a joint nomination. The section lead looks fine to me. There should be no complaints from reviewers about it after your efforts. Cheers! Pericles of Athens^Talk 09:56, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

@PericlesofAthens Sounds great! I will likely start the nomination later today; if you could help me with addressing the feedback from other users, that would be lovely. Once again, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to improve this article with you! Kind regards, Unlimitedlead (talk) 12:04, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead No problem! Unfortunately I won't be able to do anything until next week, but it looks like you already have a couple detractors taking issue with the size of the lead. I thought that would be the case. I would point out the lead section for Reign of Cleopatra is roughly the size of Cleopatra, the latter of which is already a featured article. I think the lead looks entirely reasonable after the cuts we made, given the size of the article. I also find the complaint about the overall size of the article to be a somewhat moot point, since it is already a split/sibling article of Cleopatra and its size is entirely reasonable given the subject matter. Pericles of Athens^Talk 21:55, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

Hi, @PericlesofAthens. Unfortunately, there have been multiple Wikipedians who insist that the article, especially its lead, is too long for its own good. Therefore, with the encouragement of @Gog the Mild, I have withdrawn (or at least attempted to, I'm not exactly sure how to do that) the nomination so that we can fix it. I'd say this process may take a few weeks, unfortunately.

I must say, I am rather disappointed that this is how the nomination ended up after only a day of being posted, but we must learn from our past experiences. Thanks, Unlimitedlead (talk) 23:09, 2 October 2022 (UTC)

The article needs to be more concise. There are very large notes that should be in the text. Several sections could be trimmed down as there are already articles on the subject (Alexandrian war, battle of Actium, Donations of Alexandria [actually these articles are rather poor, so I suggest moving some of the text in reign of Cleopatra to there] and Downfall and death).

I think most of modern art pictures illustrating the article could be removed; there are enough ancient depictions of her and it would clear some space.

Regarding the sources, the article mainly follows Roller, Burstein and Fletcher, but I see several books in further readings that could be included (never read any of them though). Reading them might help finding what is the academic consensus on the subject and therefore removing or trimming text from outlying opinions.

I'm sorry I don't have much time to devote to this article. T8612 (talk) 23:30, 2 October 2022 (UTC)

No worries! We will take your feedback into consideration. I'd like to point out, however, that most of the lengthy notes are actually describing the images as part of their captions, rather than the article itself. Thanks, Unlimitedlead (talk) 00:04, 3 October 2022 (UTC)

Regarding the withdrawn nomination, Gog the Mild had this to say:

"Er, the lead is what a reviewer usually reads last (and what as an editor I usually write last) as it is "a summary of [the article's] most important contents". I would need to read the whole, very long, article before I even started on the lead. And whatever I thought, as there seems to be agreement that the main article needs substantial changes, I would need to do it all again later.

A comment which may or may not be helpful. Usually when articles are split off from a "mother" article this results in a shortening of the mother, as only a summary and a reference to the "progeny article" is needed. So if the Cleopatra article were reduced by 3-4,000 words and these topped and tailed and moderately expanded to give a 5-6,000 word progeny you would meet much less resistance."

Seeing as you are the main writer and nominator of the Cleopatra article, I'd say this is your call to make. Unlimitedlead (talk) 20:17, 3 October 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead @T8612 I have no special sentimental attachment to the early modern/baroque paintings, so some of them can be removed if reviewers find it necessary to relieve the article of clutter. In regards to Roller, Burstein, and Fletcher, they agree on most things as academics investigating the same major primary sources, so trimming "outlying opinions" is not a relevant approach in my view. I can understand trimming what seems like an extraneous or minor detail, or a small part of an event that is somewhat tangential to the biography of Cleopatra and the subject of her reign. From my perspective, I've already done that with the main Cleopatra article. The entire purpose of creating the Reign of Cleopatra sister article was to retain information about her reign that simply couldn't be included in the main article (which had to explore a dozen other related subjects like ancestry, literature and visual artworks). Also, this article isn't simply an expanded version of the "Biography" section in the main article. It also represents the "Cleopatra's kingdom and role as a monarch" section in the main article, which now only retains a small summary of the content found in Reign of Cleopatra. As for the overall length, it only slightly skirts the WP:SIZE recommendation and quite frankly isn't much bigger than any other biographical article that I've successfully nominated for Featured status, such as Augustus, Giovanni Villani, Zhang Heng, Shen Kuo, and Choe Bu. I would slightly entertain the suggestion to summarize major events like the Alexandrian War, Battle of Actium, and Donations of Alexandria, but to be honest I think it is a horrible and unwelcome idea to slash any of these topics down even by one fourth of their current size. Readers who have read the main Cleopatra article and wish to know more about the subject will visit the sibling article to find more details. I find it pointless to offer them roughly the same amount of details as the main article, while at the same time redirecting them to a half dozen other articles instead. I also find some of the complaints to be wildly contradictory, the suggestion that we slash content in the article due to size concerns while simultaneously moving most materials of the footnotes into the prose if they are so important. Some information simply belongs in a footnote and readers who desire to know a bit more about a specific topic can refer to the footnote. As noted elsewhere, some of these footnotes are about images or slightly tangential topics. I feel as though slashing the lead section by a third of its size is already an enormous compromise, since I had found it to be suitable after User:UnlimitedLead had already made sensible cuts prior to the nomination. Hobbling the article with massive unnecessary cuts to the main prose body pretty much defeats the purpose of having a sibling article in the first place. Pericles of Athens^Talk 13:59, 5 October 2022 (UTC)

@PericlesofAthens I absolutely agree. The amount of opposition to this article is frankly confusing to me. However, such concerns will likely be posed be future FA reviewers again. What should we do? Unlimitedlead (talk) 15:19, 5 October 2022 (UTC)

I don't think it is worth complying with current FA standards if it means downgrading the article. I don't move the articles I've written to FAC because I don't want to be forced to remove content I think useful (typically primary sources and discussions related to them).

A remark: Apart from the last section, most of the article is related to Rome and Roman commanders, and we don't learn that much about her governing her kingdom (hence why we have repetitions with other articles). I suppose there are much less sources on the subject. One good way to start exploring could be the building projects mentioned in the 1st paragraph of the lede, but only discussed at the very end of the article. Chauveau, Michel (2000) could be worth reading, he is only cited 4 times. T8612 (talk) 01:09, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

Hi, @T8612. Thank you for your comments. While I understand where you are coming from, all the events involving Rome/Roman commanders were all directly part of Cleopatra's reign. The article makes it explicitly clear that Cleopatra's reign was dominated by Roman interventionism. Such information is definitely relevant in an article about the reign of Cleopatra.
In addition, no other user has pointed out any issues with the content itself, just the sheer length of it. Unlimitedlead (talk) 01:56, 6 October 2022 (UTC)

@T8612 @Unlimitedlead Hi again! Sorry for the long delay, I try to stay away from Wikipedia as much as possible these days, as I am busy and don't want it occupying too much of my time these days. As for chipping away at details in the article and moving material to other articles, @Unlimitedlead I would only find this acceptable if you faithfully preserved all materials by shifting texts designated for removal to relevant sub-articles (Battle of Actium, Donations of Alexandria, etc.), and created a user page sandbox draft showing exactly what you intend the main Reign of Cleopatra article to look like after this hypothetical significant removal of content. Unfortunately, it is only for the sake of kowtowing and pleasing a few FAC reviewers who oddly enough do not understand that this article is already within acceptable size parameters per WP:SIZE. If you are absolutely determined to make this an FA article, then this is my one request. Please refer to my own sandbox pages for examples, or learn more at Wikipedia:About the sandbox. Cheers and good luck! Pericles of Athens^Talk 00:47, 14 October 2022 (UTC)

@PericlesofAthens Thank you for the advice. I've actually submitted the article for a peer review, so I'll see what everyone over there thinks about the article's length. I will work on it over the next few months, but unfortunately, I anticipate that it will take an absurdly long amount of time. I wish you all the best as you navigate through your hectic world outside of Wikipedia. See you around! Unlimitedlead (talk) 01:00, 14 October 2022 (UTC)

Always precious

Ten years ago, you were found precious. That's what you are, always. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:41, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

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Cleopatra

Oh boy. Cleopatra. She's... a difficult topic to handle. I regret to inform you that I am unable to work on Reign of Cleopatra's FA nomination in 2023. By no means do I intend on quitting it. I'm not a quitter. However, with the WikiCup coming up, along with school, I don't think I can handle that big of a workload until 2024 at the earliest. Have yourself a wonderful holiday season, and I'll see you soon (or in two years, who knows)! Unlimitedlead (talk) 23:10, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead No worries! Thanks for all your hard work thus far. Best of luck with WikiCup and getting your degree! I have no doubts that I'll be seeing you around in 2024. Kind regards, Pericles of Athens^Talk 23:41, 19 December 2022 (UTC)

Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

Hi Pericles! Nine days ago, I said that our next collaboration would be in 2024. I lied. I was taking a look at Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) purely for the enjoyment of reading it, but one thing led to another, and I eventually ended up re-doing the entire citation system, along with a whole ton of other stuff. I really think you've done a wonderful job with it, and it's a shame that the FA nomination from four years ago barely received any reviews.

With that said, can I grasp your opinion on me making some additions to the article and co-nominating it for FA with you next year? It's completely alright if you are too busy for that, or don't feel comfortable with the idea; I just thought I'd throw it out there. Cheers, Unlimitedlead (talk) 18:51, 28 December 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Good sir, you are more than welcome to co-nominate the article with me next year. I would be honored! Given the previous review process, it is difficult to say if it would be successful or not, but it is certainly worth the try. Thanks for letting me know! I also chuckled at the "I lied" part, as it reminded me of a line by Arnold Schwarzenegger from that silly 1985 movie Commando. LOL. Take care, Pericles of Athens^Talk 22:06, 28 December 2022 (UTC)

Personal inquiry

Hi Pericles. As you are likely not aware, this is my third post on your talk page within the past two weeks, but Confucius once said "third time's a charm" (no. no, he didn't). I just wanted to ask, if you're comfortable answering, about your semi-retirement. May I ask what spurred it? Will you ever return to Wikipedia full-time, or do you intend on fully retiring one day? Apologies for constantly being here, Unlimitedlead (talk) 03:53, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Sure, I can answer that! Honestly, I simply do not have time to be on Wikipedia as much as I used to, and I have better things to do. I'd also rather not spend so much time here after contributing so much. I feel like I've played my part, pitched in, and shared enough of my time and effort considering how I'm one of those Wikipedians with the most amount of featured articles successfully nominated (22, but 25 if you count featured lists). I don't have anything to prove, and I'd rather spend my spare time playing guitar, reading, hiking, going out drinking with friends, visiting family, etc. Alternatively, I don't mind doing shared projects with you so long as you are motivated to lift things up to Featured status. To that I'll lift my glass and say thanks, cheers, and Happy New Years! ;) Pericles of Athens^Talk 15:58, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

Thank you kindly, and a happy new year to you as well! Unlimitedlead (talk) 16:06, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

Happy New Year, PericlesofAthens!

Happy New Year!

PericlesofAthens,
Have a prosperous, productive and enjoyable New Year, and thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia.
Mann Mann (talk) 05:42, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

   Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year fireworks}} to user talk pages.

A million award for you!

	The Million Award
	For your contributions to bring Cleopatra (estimated annual readership: 55,882,835) to Featured Article status, I hereby present you the Million Award. Congratulations on this rare accomplishment, and thanks for all you do for Wikipedia's readers! theleekycauldron (talk • contribs) (she/her) 07:57, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

@Theleekycauldron Thank you kindly for this award and most thoughtful gesture. Your kind words are highly appreciated. I'm truly amazed at the number of views the Cleopatra article has received. I'd like to take credit somehow, but apparently it is due to a Samsung Android phone voice command feature that leads many of its users to the page as a suggestion. Either way, my work is reaching a huge audience! Always good to know. Cheers! Pericles of Athens^Talk 00:05, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

If you really think about, your work is technically being promoted by Samsung itself. That's not something many Wikipedians can boast of! Unlimitedlead (talk) 20:02, 25 February 2023 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Hah! Good point and thanks for the perspective. I should have thought about it that way as well. Best of luck to you in your future projects for that matter. ;) Pericles of Athens^Talk 00:06, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

Thank you Pericles! In fact, I have a certain article prepared for FA sometime next week. I'll be sure to co-nom you ;) Unlimitedlead (talk) 00:14, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Promotion

Hello, Pericles. Rejoice, for today is a fine day indeed! Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) has finally been promoted to featured article status, and I would like to congratulate you on writing such a fine specimen of an article. Cheers to this article, and hopefully many more in the future. Take care, Unlimitedlead (talk) 21:21, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Fantastic! Hurray and hurrah! We did it! Thanks mostly to you and your efforts with initiating the nomination process and seeing it through to its glorious end. Drink and celebrate! Savor this mentally and spiritually orgasmic moment, for it is akin to that feeling of being in the saddle straddling a steed at the Battle of Pelenor Fields, riding down fleeing Orcs with your cavalry charge and saving Minas Tirith. Spears shall be splintered! Shields shall be broken! A sword day! A red day! Ere the sun rises! Ride now! Ride with me! Ride for FA article status and the world's ending! Pericles of Athens^Talk 21:36, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) scheduled for TFA

This is to let you know that the above article has been scheduled as today's featured article for 9 May 2023. Please check that the article needs no amendments. Feel free to amend the draft blurb, which can be found at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 9, 2023, or to make comments on other matters concerning the scheduling of this article at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/May 2023. I suggest that you watchlist Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors from the day before this appears on Main Page. Thanks and congratulations on your work. Gog the Mild (talk) 17:15, 2 April 2023 (UTC)

@Gog the Mild Thanks for letting me know! Cheers. Pericles of Athens^Talk 14:22, 3 April 2023 (UTC)

Hurrah! It's finally there! Unlimitedlead (talk) 01:32, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

May songs

my story today

Thank you for the article, introduced: "Have you ever heard of March Madness? Well, it's 1 March (where I live; it's actually 2 March UTC Face-sad.svg) and prepare for a whole lot of madness! PericlesofAthens have been working on this article for a bit (kudos on him for building this article from the ground up and taking it through GA), and after a depressing FA nomination in 2018, we believe things will go smoother this time around. Read this article, and you'll discover that Alexander isn't the only great thing about Macedon..."! - I had a good story on coronation day: a Te Deum we sang that day. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:45, 9 May 2023 (UTC)

Another collaboration...

Greetings, dear Pericles! I trust that you are living life to its fullest with your loved ones! Once again, I would like to thank and congratulate you on a job well done; after some pondering, I was wondering if I could obtain your blessing to edit, revise, and expand Early life of Cleopatra with the end-goal of another co-nomination sometime this year. This is especially keeping in mind our ambitious long-term Reign of Cleopatra project (which I have not forgotten, by the way ). Once again, I do not expect you to come out of your retirement to do anything major, but I would like to get your approval before anything rash is done. Cheers, Pericles! Unlimitedlead (talk) 02:22, 5 April 2023 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Sure thing, take a stab at it! You have my blessing, I trust your judgment. Once again, great job with with Government of Macedonian nomination. It would be my pleasure to see Early life of Cleopatra achieve FA status in a joint effort. Pericles of Athens^Talk 08:21, 5 April 2023 (UTC)

Just to let you know, I have nominated the article for FA. Feel free to monitor its progress! Cheers, Unlimitedlead (talk) 18:28, 20 April 2023 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Excellent! Thanks for letting me know. Pericles of Athens^Talk 23:41, 20 April 2023 (UTC)

Cleopatra race article

Thanks for catching that little bit. Unfortunately Netflix is coming out with a docudrama claiming Cleopatra was "Black" with a Black actress, so we will probably be seeing a measure of vandalism on that page and main pages in the next couple months, from likely all corners of this asinine "debate". I will try to keep an eye out, although I am in grad school as of now! Hope you are very well! Kleopatra I Syra (talk) 20:25, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

You're very welcome! Good luck with classes, and I will also keep a look out for the page. All the best, Pericles of Athens^Talk 20:55, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

I wonder if it may be advisable to request a lock on the race article, as the main article has also? Kleopatra I Syra (talk) 20:29, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

@Kleopatraisyra Not a bad idea, I wouldn't be opposed if it starts to receive heavy amounts of edits from anonymous IPs with a seeming agenda rather than people concerned with cleaning up minor issues. Pericles of Athens^Talk 20:55, 16 April 2023 (UTC)

I put in a lock request. It is getting a bit out of hand at this point now.

Cheers! Kleopatra I Syra (talk) 21:49, 21 April 2023 (UTC)

Barnstar!

		The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
		"I've been active enough these days!" Indeed, Mr. Pericles. I would say that I rejoice at your "return" to Wikipedia, but you were never truly gone! I thank you kindly for all the advice and guidance you have given me. While I am glad to see you come out of your semi-retirement, please do not feel burdened or obligated to spend too much time here; go enjoy life! Have fun, go out for drinks with friends, go for a nice hike. But I am indeed very joyous to see you remove that blue banner! Cheers Pericles, Unlimitedlead (talk) 23:10, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

I appreciate that! Thank you kindly. It is a pleasure to collaborate with you on those latest projects. I hope for even more in the future! Pericles of Athens^Talk 04:03, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

Editor of the Week

		Editor of the Week
		Your ongoing efforts to improve the encyclopedia have not gone unnoticed: You have been selected as Editor of the Week in recognition of your great contributions! (courtesy of the Wikipedia Editor Retention Project)

User:Unlimitedlead submitted the following nomination for Editor of the Week:

I nominate PericlesofAthens to be Editor of the Week for his diligence in the creation of GA and FA content, as well as his kind soul. Though he has only recently emerged from semi-retirement, Mr. Pericles has been of great help to me; he frequently offers sage advice about content creation, and we have nominated several articles together. I consider him one of my first friends on Wikipedia, and corresponding with Pericles is always a joy. In his prime (on this website), he pushed out quality article after quality article and is one of the most individually influential and important editors the site has ever had. He set a high standard for high-importance Chinese topics, yet has brought also this quality to Parthian, Macedonian and Egyptian topics. He may be the only editor to have more than one VITAL-3 FA. It surprised me that he has not received the Editor of the Week award yet. Let us right this wrong. Seconded by User:Aza24 and User:AirshipJungleman29

You can copy the following text to your user page to display a user box proclaiming your selection as Editor of the Week:

{{User:UBX/EoTWBox}}

A Favorite Pic

PericlesofAthens

Editor of the Week for the week beginning September 10, 2023

A kind soul that frequently offers sage advice about content creation and is diligent in the creation of GA and FA content. He has pushed quality article after quality article and is one of the most individually influential and important editors the site has ever had. Set a high standard for high-importance Chinese topics, yet has also brought this quality to Parthian, Macedonian and Egyptian topics. He may be the only editor to have more than one VITAL-3 FA.

Recognized for

joyful correspondence

Notable work

Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

Submit a nomination

Thanks again for your efforts! ―Buster7 ☎ 11:25, 9 September 2023 (UTC)

@Buster7 @Unlimitedlead @user:Aza24 @User:AirshipJungleman29 Wow! This is a huge surprise and a complete honor. Thank you for this. I am always striving to provide and defend quality content here on Wikipedia, and sometimes I forget that those projects leave a big impact on fellow editors, not just our readers. Cheers to you for acknowledging those efforts, Unlimitedlead. I look forward to collaborating with you on many more projects after our success and joint efforts in nominating Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) for FA status. You should be proud of your own list of featured articles, for that matter! Also, bravo on crafting your user page with the Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Desmarais painting in the background, very suave indeed. ;) Pericles of Athens^Talk 16:55, 9 September 2023 (UTC)

Ancient Egyptian literature

Thinking of running this on the Main Page at WP:TFA ... normally I shudder to rerun one of these older ones with no comments yet at WP:URFA/2020A, but I can't help but notice that you really wowed the crowd at FAC with this one (and others). And, I've checked the history and talk page, and I'm running various tools meant to catch mistakes, and I'm getting ... nothing. What do you think, is this ready for a second Main Page appearance in January? Would you like more time to fiddle with it? - Dank (push to talk) 17:35, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

Hello, thanks for contacting me. I'm surprised that any of my featured articles would get a second run at the front page, but sure! Why not! Sounds great. I don't see any underlying issues that need to be addressed. I think it's pretty much ready to go, unless I've somehow missed some enormous news in the realm of archaeology that blows apart some argument made in the article. I don't think that's the case. If so, let me know! Otherwise, I look forward to seeing this on the front page once more. Cheers. Pericles of Athens^Talk 21:51, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

Great. The blurb will appear WP:Today's featured article/January 30, 2024 soon-ish; feel free to edit or comment. - Dank (push to talk) 23:10, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

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Happy Holidays

Peace is a state of balance and understanding in yourself and between others, where respect is gained by the acceptance of differences, tolerance persists, conflicts are resolved through dialog, people's rights are respected and their voices are heard, and everyone is at their highest point of serenity without social tension. Happy Holidays to you and yours. ―Buster7 ☎

@User:Buster7 Thanks for the lovely message! Very nice. The same to you as well! Happy holidays! Pericles of Athens^Talk 06:07, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

Season's Greetings

		Season's Greetings
		Wishing everybody a Happy Holiday Season, and all best wishes for the New Year! The Nativity scene on the Pulpit in the Pisa Baptistery by Nicola Pisano is my Wiki-Christmas card to all for this year. Johnbod (talk) 02:59, 24 December 2023 (UTC)

Thanks, John! I appreciate that kind and thoughtful gesture, and I appreciate your efforts on this site even more! Thanks for all you've done to make this a better place. Happy holidays to you and yours! Pericles of Athens^Talk 04:53, 25 December 2023 (UTC)

Happy New Year, PericlesofAthens!

Happy New Year!

PericlesofAthens,
Have a prosperous, productive and enjoyable New Year, and thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia.
Mann Mann (talk) 04:35, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

@Mann Mann Thanks! Happy New Year to you too! Pericles of Athens^Talk 18:30, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

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TFA

story · music · places

Thank you today for Ancient Egyptian literature, introduced (in 2009): "... many reliable sources (in fact, I've cited most of the big-name authorities on Egyptian literature: Erman, Breasted, Parkinson, Lichtheim, Wilson, Loprieno, Morenz, Fischer-Elfert, Forman, Quirke, Simpson, and Wente). Although I usually do Chinese history articles, I noticed this was a very neglected subject on Wiki, so I decided to act boldly. For anyone interested in Ancient Egypt or literary history in general, this article will certainly be an enjoyable read (I guarantee it). - On vacation, - look at places. -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:35, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

You're very welcome! Thanks for the thoughtful message! Pericles of Athens^Talk 21:13, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

My pleasure! - Today a friend's birthday, with related music and a few new vacation pics (more to come, keep watching places) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:13, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

Indeed! Wonderful work, Pericles. Unlimitedlead (talk) 23:08, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

Thanks! I appreciate that very much. Pericles of Athens^Talk 23:40, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

My apologies

for making a mess in ancient Egyptian literature. I've been using Sfn for so long, I forgot that Harvnb needs ref tags! A. Parrot (talk) 14:28, 31 January 2024 (UTC)

No problem! We all make mistakes. Thanks for clarifying about the decipherment of ancient Egyptian in the 19th century, and for adding new sources. Cheers. Pericles of Athens^Talk 15:04, 31 January 2024 (UTC)

WikiJournal of Humanities Submission

Good afternoon, Pericles! A significant amount of time has elapsed since our last substantial correspondence. I trust you are doing well! As for myself, I have been laying low and trying to enjoy my life; sorry for the absence :) Anyhow, I wanted to ask you about my submission of Edward I of England to the WikiJournal of Humanities. I am not sure if you have any familiarity with the journal, but I submitted the article in May 2023 and have yet to receive any updates. Apparently, two peer reviews from qualified individuals (or something like that; I'm not too sure myself), and I was wondering if you knew anybody who might be up to the task, or at the very least, point me in the right direction. Thank you for your troubles, and I hope to see you around, Pericles! It's always a pleasure working and talking with you! Unlimitedlead (talk) 19:35, 4 February 2024 (UTC)

Hello again! No worries, you and I can collaborate on Cleopatra sub-articles or other articles at whatever time suits you the best. I am actually not that familiar with the WikiJournal of Humanities, but it sounds awesome. I unfortunately became aware months after the fact that Edward I of England was elevated to FA status thanks to your efforts and candidacy, since it was still in my watchlist after I added links about the envoy Rabban Bar Sauma and Europeans in Medieval China long ago (glad to see there is a paragraph on the matter there concerning Mongol diplomacy, which I believe did not exist there before when I originally added further info links). Bravo on getting it up to FA status a year ago! As for those who might be able to provide a peer review, I'm not familiar with too many highly competent reviewers and editors around here anymore, but User:Johnbod is a veteran who would certainly be capable of the job. I can't speak for him, though, and I'm not sure if he would love the idea or wouldn't want to be pestered at all about it! LOL. I still edit Wikipedia with minor touch ups (like I recently did for the article "Historiography"), but I'm busy virtually every day of the week with work and other things, so I'm not sure if I could earnestly commit as a peer reviewer either. Best of luck with the submission! Pericles of Athens^Talk 20:35, 4 February 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for the kind words. Actually, it was me who added the bit about the Mongols; I was reading Prestwich and knew people like you would enjoy that bit ;) Thank you for the tips. I will go correspond with Johnbod and see if he has any guidance regarding the matter. Mmm, and speaking of collaboration, I have a proposition for you regarding the drafting of an entirely new article. Feel free to email me if it tickles your fancy :) Unlimitedlead (talk) 20:58, 4 February 2024 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead I hope things have worked out for you in regards to the article submission to the Wikijournal. Did Johnbod ever get in touch with you? On another note, I am interested in this proposal to draft a new article, though I am busy trying to spruce up the articles on the history of science and science in the ancient world, the latter still needing a lot of work. Neither of them even had sections on Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations (Olmecs, Zapotecs, Mayas) until I came around and added them earlier this week, though the "ancient world" article oddly enough did have some unsourced blurbs on them all the way back in 2005 when it was first written. I could honestly use your help with these articles if anything! That history of science article is fairly decent and detailed on sections about the Late Middle Ages until the present, but most other sections on earlier periods still need tons of work. It is also perhaps a higher priority than the "ancient world" article given how it gets so many more daily views, though I have rewritten and dramatically expanded the section on "China and the Far East" in the "ancient world" article already (beforehand it had like two or three statements about the ancient period and oddly only talked about off-topic medieval and early modern Chinese subjects, figures, and events). Even the Greco-Roman section could use more citations and more cohesive narrative, while the section on Persia has literally no citations at all, and the section on Egypt is pathetically small given its importance. Pericles of Athens^Talk 23:59, 17 February 2024 (UTC)

Hi, Pericles. Thank you for checking in; Johnbod was unable to directly provide assistance but did offer useful advice. Unfortunately, the journal nomination does not seem to be moving, so I assume I am in for a pleasant surprise in a few years. Regarding the content creation bit (after all, that's why we're here, isn't it ), I was going to ask whether you would be interested in formulating an article surmising the early life (which would include background, childhood, education, and early adulthood) of Alexander the Great, one of my personal heroes. That is a project for down the line though; so no rush to hop on, if at all! Unfortunately, the sciences are not within my purview so I would rather not sully the process of constructing both those articles; however, I would be more than happy to copyedit, revise, and/or review at FA, if you see fit. I am always pleased to see quality content being pushed out by Pericles, and I am comitted to making it come to fruition! Cheers, buddy. Unlimitedlead (talk) 01:58, 18 February 2024 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead thanks! I appreciate that, though I doubt I'll ever submit either of those two science articles for GA let alone FA review, they're just simply too messy with too many frequent editors, it would be a nightmare! LOL. I just want to make sure they are less messy and are better resources for average readers and amateur historians who don't know anything about the subject matter. Best of luck with the Wikijournal submission! In regards to the original Mega Man himself (did you see what I did there), it would be my distinct pleasure to contribute to an article on the early life of the Alexander the Great, Alexandros Megas (I like to confuse people and refer to him as Alexander III of Macedon). Given everything I've done in bringing articles related to ancient Macedonia up to GA and FA status, it shouldn't be too difficult in rounding up sources, investigating claims, composing drafts, and providing properly cited material. Just let me know what exactly it is you would like me to contribute and I'll see what I can do! Pericles of Athens^Talk 03:26, 18 February 2024 (UTC)

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New message to PericlesofAthens

Hello! I have no idea whether you'd have the inclination or time in the next few months, and I'm not sure if you have any particular interest or comfort regarding linguistics or philology, but I currently have Chinese characters at GAN, and I'd ultimately like to get it the star. You seem like the most experienced editor around when it comes to excellent China articles at FAC, so I thought I'd put out a feeler if you have any pointers, or perhaps (no pressure) some informal "mentorship" while I get ready for that process, plus that of working on Classical Chinese for WP:The Core Contest that begins soon. Also, I wanted to thank you for your work which I can otherwise appreciate and emulate. Cheers! Remsense诉 17:27, 9 April 2024 (UTC)

@Remsense Hello! Thanks for the thoughtful compliment and invitation to provide help on these projects. Unfortunately I have become very busy lately and unable to edit Wikipedia much these days. Also, while Chinese history is one of my favorite topics and areas of study when I was a college student, I am not an expert in linguistics, I'm only a native speaker of English, and my own ability to speak and write in Chinese is quite poor (though I have taken Mandarin language courses in the past). While I possess a solid ability to judge scholarly sources on matters such as their assessments of historical Chinese dynasties, I fear that I don't have the ability to make the best judgments about scholarly consensus or the quality of sources covering various aspects of the Chinese language and writing system. It's just not a field where I feel competent or comfortable enough as a contributor, unfortunately! However, I would be happy to support the article Chinese characters in any future FAC nomination, following some improvements.

At first glance it seems like a wonderful article: it has a solid lead section, a suitable info box, a logical organization, and plenty of useful illustrations, yet there are areas for improvement. Before submitting this as an FAC you should consider standardizing the referencing method, choosing only one across the board. Currently the article uses a variety of methods, including both "harvnb" and "sfn" for inline citations. I would also doublecheck various images to make sure they are properly licensed and if necessary indicated as belonging to either the public domain or respecting copyright limitations. One of my biggest hurdles in achieving successful nominations for various FACs was placating reviewers who consistently raised concerns about image licensing on Wikimedia Commons. Nominations are handled much more smoothly if that issue is nullified right from the start! The sheer length of the article might lead to some opposition, though, as reviewers usually want editors to split things up into sub-articles and sibling articles if the main article is considered too long. To this day it's the reason that History of the Han dynasty is still only a Good article and not a Featured one.

Best of luck with these articles, and if you need any specific advice, please feel free to ask and I'll try to respond within a reasonable amount of time. Cheers!

Pericles of Athens^Talk 06:51, 10 April 2024 (UTC)

Thank you very much in kind for the considered reply, advice and encouragement, it means an awful lot to me! Remsense诉 16:58, 10 April 2024 (UTC)

A star for a star!

		The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
		Long time no see, buddy :) Unlimitedlead (talk) 05:54, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

@Unlimitedlead Thanks! Much appreciated. Pericles of Athens^Talk 04:03, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

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Question about an old contribution

Hello, and Happy Holidays!

This is a bit of an odd request, but I would like to know more about a door that you had mentioned in an old article edit, specifically the first foot-sensor-activated automatic door from China. I was looking through the book "Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering" by Joseph Needham, but I couldn't find a mention about the door. If you remember what section of the book that it is mentioned in I would really appreciate you letting me know.

Best wishes,
-SpeepySoprt SpeepySport (talk) 23:33, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

(talk page jaguar) Could you link the specific article? I'm curious. Remsense ‥ 论 23:36, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Sure thing! It's the page for Door https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door SpeepySport (talk) 23:40, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Found it! The description is on page 162. Remsense ‥ 论 23:48, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Thank you so much! :D SpeepySport (talk) 00:09, 6 December 2024 (UTC)

@Remsense Thanks for finding it! I don't visit Wikipedia very often anymore, way too busy for that unfortunately, but I appreciate you helping him with the Needham reference. Happy holidays to you and to @SpeepySport, best of luck on Wikipedia, and I wish you all the best. Pericles of Athens^Talk 13:28, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

Least I can do! Happy holidays to you as well. Remsense ‥ 论 13:29, 12 December 2024 (UTC)