User:Mar.nw/Evaluate an Article

Evaluation
This page is an evaluation of the article Portico of Pompey, about the public space in Ancient Rome built by the general Pompey the Great, where he housed spoils of war.

Lead
The lead includes some poor wording. The introductory sentence includes a parenthetical statement directly after the subject, which reads awkwardly and breaks the flow of the sentence. Additionally, it defines the subject using architectural jargon that is likely to baffle the average reader and require them to visit several internal links in order to grasp the meaning of the sentence. It reads: "The Porticus of Pompey (known under various names, including the Ambulatio Magni and Hecatostylon or "Hall of a hundred pillars") was a large quadriporticus located directly behind the scaenae frons of the Theatre of Pompey." For clarity and accessibility, this would be better phrased as: "The Porticus of Pompey was a portico in Ancient Rome extending from the Theatre of Pompey, a first-century BCE structure built by the Republican general Pompey the Great. It is also known by the names Ambulatio Magni, meaning "the great promenade", and Hecatostylon, meaning "the hall of a hundred pillars."" In the third sentence, the clause "[it] has a history spanning hundreds of years" is vague and unnecessary.

Content
The article is not particularly informative and lacks relevant and interesting information on the structure or its history. Overall, the article fails to elucidate the subject and to explain its significance.

"History" section
The first of the two paragraphs in the "History" section simply defines "portico" a second time and then restates the obvious information, already found in the lead, that the portico was attached to Pompey's theatre and that this also bore his name. The next paragraph mentions that Pompey built the portico after having traveled abroad on military campaigns, seemingly to imply that his travels inspired the design, but without mentioning any specific destinations or the aspects of design that would render this information meaningful. It then mentions that the complex "became a symbol of Roman culture for centuries", again providing no examples or additional information to support this claim.

"Architecture" section
The information in this section is meaningless and does not describe the architectural elements. It is unclear what is meant by the claim that "the entrance to the theatre complex was tightly controlled at either side of the Curia of Pompey" or how this results in the viewer's attention being directed to the temple of Venus Victrix. The information about Venus Vitrix should include an internal link to another Wikipedia article, and a brief explanation of the significance to the article at hand. The sentence that follows states that the effect was broken by Augustus's later construction of a stone scaena, but does not explain why this was built or how it matters.

Tone and Balance
The article suffers from poor syntax throughout, which obscures the meaning of the information presented.

Sources and References
At least four of the five sources listed qualify as peer-reviewed scholarly sources. I am unsure about the reliability of the first source listed, as it seems the most recent edition was published in 1913. This does not necessarily disqualify it as a reputable source, but I would still recommend corroborating the information with the help of other sources.

Organization
The article is syntactically poor and therefore difficult to read. It includes a number of spelling and punctuation errors. Under the "History" section, "emulate" is misspelled as "imulate." The "History" and "Architecture" sections do not adequately address either the history or the architecture of the portico, and read more like a collection of fun facts than an informational article.

Images and Media
The image is a computer-generated rendering of how the theatre would have looked, angled to show the portico from above. It includes the source and complies with Wikipedia's regulations, and seems a fitting image for the page.

Checking the talk page
There are no conversations on the talk page, though the article is included as part of four seperate WikiProjects: WikiProject Architecture, WikiProject Rome, WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome, and WikiProject Archaeology. All four rate it is as a C-class article, though WikiProject Rome lists it as being of top importance and both the Architecture and the Archaeology WikiProject claim it is of high importance.

Overall impressions
The article on the Portico of Pompey is underdeveloped and would benefit from grammatical and syntactical editing, a more thorough explanation of the structure's origins and significance, and a deeper foray into the historical and cultural developments in which it plays a role.