User:JumpOffsides/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Sparta, ancient Greece

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose the Sparta article because I am taking a course in ancient Greek history and Sparta is one of the key city-states in the classical Greek eras/periods. Sparta was such a different type of state compared to other Greek city states, like Athens, with significant differences in military training and forces, political participation, the dual kings, and the role of both men and women in society plus the treatment and usage of slaves. The article seemed to be a good summary of a number of the key elements of Sparta society, with a good emphasis on its historical background, its participation in some of the Greek wars, and the usage of noteworthy Greek words/terms.

Evaluate the article
The lead has a good introductory sentence and first paragraph. Lead is concise and not too detailed. Not all the sections are covered in the lead; Mythology and Architecture are not mentioned in the lead. Article's content is related to the topic and appears to be up to date. All content seems to belong to the topic of Sparta and none of it is trivial or unrelated. Compared to most cultures in antiquity, women had a significant role in Spartan society and some of their duties and experiences are highlighted in a section of the article. If possible, more historical women's names could be added to the article. The article has a neutral tone with no apparent biases and no overt attempts to persuade the reader of a particular position or values system.

There are plentiful sources listed and a wide ranger from modern day back to antiquity. Perhaps Herodotus', The Histories, book could be added as a reference source. Some of the facts have a note saying citation needed. Some links were checked and did work correctly. Article is well-organized and structured into major sections. It generally reads well and provides a lot of digestible factual information. Images are plentiful and there is at least one with each section. They are labeled well. I'm not sure how to check the validity of the copyrights. The article is rated B-class and is part of 4 WikiProjects: Greece/Athens, Greece and Rome, Cities, and Former Countries. Conversations occurred about the Classical Sparta section as well as on the topic of monogamous marriage. There are two sections, one with focus on the archaeological progress of modern day time since the late 1800s and the second that focuses on the admiration of Sparta, known as Laconophilia.

The article is listed as a level-4 vital article in History. The article's strengths are discussion of the military background of Sparta and training of the boys. There are lots of good pictures to accompany the text for reference and the map of Sparta within the Greek mainland is good. As for improvements, the Naming section is rather confusing. I am not that familiar with all the names of Sparta besides Lacedaemon and so it is hard to follow the train of thought in this section. Maybe a more zoomed in map of Sparta with the locations of these names placed on the map for reference or a summarized chart/table as supporting tools might provide a visual tie-in and better connection to the various alternate names of Sparta and the Spartan people. Overall, the article is well-developed and contains numerous references and sources for back-up.