Wikipedia:Peer review/Lucius Neratius Marcellus/archive1

Lucius Neratius Marcellus

I've listed this article for peer review because while I'm confident that I've included practically everything known about this personage, I'm concerned that I may have lapsed at times into either jargon or expecting the kind of person who uses Wikipedia to understand what I'm talking about. I may have also left out details about Marcellus' life that the average Wikipedia reader would expect to find; while there may not be any facts to base an answer on, sometimes it is important to indicate to the reader "nothing is yet known about that". I'm hoping feedback I get here will help me in writing/improving other articles about lesser-known Romans. Thanks -- llywrch (talk) 17:16, 20 June 2017 (UTC)

Hi again! Figure I should return the favor after your review of Drusus Julius Caesar. Some things I noticed:

• Thanks for the comments. Some responses inline. (All by me, llywrch (talk) 23:40, 28 June 2017 (UTC))

• There's no image for him, but you could include images of Roman Britain, or of the Dacian Wars which he contributed in.
  • I'll look for some. I thought about adding an image of the inscription referenced, but I could not find a PD/CW-Free one. (When it comes to providing images for articles, that is my weakest point.)
• While the article is broad and covers all known aspects of his career, this is not reflected in the article's lead. It is a short article, but I feel like there is just enough to justify a couple extra sentences in the lead explaining why he might be considered noteworthy (his consulship, relations, and role in the war).
  • Er, Marcellus wasn't involved in any war, far as I know. Yes, he had to handle some unrest in Britain & reorganize their defenses, but those were more on the line of "dealing forcefully with brigands", not an actual war with units of cohort size or larger & pitched battles.
• "We lose track of the consular after that. Since he was obviously elderly by this point, it would likely that he died soon after." This is true, but using words like obviously without a citation might come off as un-encyclopedic. The sentence before that begins with "Our next evidence..", which could be changed to "Further evidence..", again, to maintain an encyclopedic tone.
  • Good point. My initial intent was to find a way to tie off the biography, assure the reader that yes, Marcellus eventually did die. A bit further reading alerted me to some speculation about Marcellus being forced to commit suicide -- although at least one other scholar thinks the primary source that states the fact is referring to another person with the cognomen of Marcellus. Anyway, I fixed that bit up.
• The Family section might be better merged with the Early life section as both deal with relations, but this is a matter of taste. Also might want to consider referencing the Family section.
  • Yikes! Fixed that, & in a few other articles. I'm amazed I missed that, since I'm always grumbling about articles that confidently claim relationships between people, when the experts either see no such connection, or admit the relationship is inferred or speculative.
• At the French wiki (L. Neratius Marcellus) there's an image of a family tree that you could use in the article here. I am familiar with the family tree template and would be happy to draw one up.
  • I'm a bit wary about the information in the family tree on the French Wiki: it introduces a few people about whom I have no idea where they came from. Having been dealing with the mess left by some incompetent/fantasizing contributors (one of whom was banned years ago, but his mess still remains), I'm leery of using content from other Wikipedias unless I verify where the information came from first. But I do want to take you up on that offer: there are at least 5 more members of the gens Neratii deserving articles, & at least one family aligned with them: unless one is willing to dig through the technical literature, these relationships are not always visible. And some of them are purely hypothetical.

You did a good job explaining the Latin terminology regarding the posts he held, and although not every aspect of his life is covered, the article covers everything we do know (I went to other wikis, did a google search, and couldn't find anything omitted). Overall, you did a fine job bringing together information on a relatively obscure figure. SpartaN (talk) 03:37, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

Comments from Gertanis

• Why do you have <br> in the very beginning of the article?
• "Lastly, his life provides several examples of how patronage operated during his life time." – "his life...his life"
• "The origins of the gens Neratia lie in the Italian town of Saepinum in the heart of Samnium." – strike 'in the heart of': figurative and unencyclopedic language
• "Olli Salomies has convincingly argued that while Marcellus was the brother of the jurist Lucius Neratius Priscus, and thus the natural child of Lucius Neratius Priscus, he had been adopted by his uncle Marcus Hirrius Fronto Neratius Pansa, consul in 73 or 74, who was childless." – very long sentence; try trimming it. Also, who is Olli Salomies?
• "Career up to Britain" – ungrammatical
• "An inscription recovered from Saepinum provides us the details of his career." – consider rephrasing w/o 'us', see MOS:PERSON (although that page may allow for this contextual use)
• "...including being excused from holding some of the republican magistracies required to become consul" – "-ing -ing -ing". Also, this is more of a privilege than an opportunity.
• "Marcellus then was given the position of curator acta senatorum, or recorder of the minutes of that body" – 'then' → 'subsequently'. And what body?
• You really like semicolons, don't you?

That's it for today. Gertanis (talk) 21:18, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Comments from Eddie891

• Really? you linked fl to a disambiguation page.
• "Lastly" Sounds like an essay.
• " has convincingly argued" don't say convincingly
• "Another illustration of Marcellus' role" I don't like the phrasing "another illustration"
• "Our next evidence" badly phrased.
• who is Anthony Birley?
• who are J. David Thomas, Alan K. Bowman, M. P. Speidel and R. Seider?

All for now. Eddie891 ^Talk _Work 21:28, 21 September 2017 (UTC)