Talk:Battle of Thannuris/GA1

GA review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Nominator: A.Cython (talk · contribs) 22:27, 27 September 2026 (UTC)

Reviewer: Vestrian24Bio (talk · contribs) 09:41, 30 September 2026 (UTC)

Hi! I will be reviewing this article for WP:GARC, expect the initial remarks soon! Vestrian24Bio 09:41, 30 September 2026 (UTC)

Comments

Battle of Thannuris (as of this rev)

• WP:DUPELINKs,
  • Coutzes in the Battle section.
    •  Done
  • Bouzes in the Battle section.
    •  Done
  • Jabalah IV ibn al-Harith in the Battle section.
    •  Done
• Consider replacing this link with a different website, since WordPress is considered an unreliable source.
  •  Done replaced with the University of Cardiff's database record of the paper. However, it still points to the previous url as the journal's official repository. I know this isn't necessarily the best source, but the author is an expert in the field, and it is the only comment about Procopius's motivation for this mistake. If this is not ok, let me know so that I can remove the statement and the source.
• Could add the battle location's coordinates as well.
  •  Done I used the coordinates of Tell Tuneinir based on this paper p. 1280

Vestrian24Bio 03:32, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

@A.Cython: that's all I got, ping me when you're done addressing these.. Vestrian24Bio 03:32, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

@Vestrian24Bio Thank you for your thorough review. I believe I have addressed your comments. Let me know if I missed something or I need to revisit one of your comments. A.Cython(talk) 05:29, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

Source spot-check

This table lists 3 random passages from throughout the article (27.3% of 11 total passages). These passages contain 4 inline citations (26.7% of 15 in the article). Reference numbers refer to this revision. Generated with the Veracity user script. Vestrian24Bio 03:32, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

Reference #	Letter	Source	Archive	Status	Notes
Battle
According to contemporary historian Zacharias of Mytilene, the battle took place near Thannuris as follows. The advancement of the Persian army near the construction of the fort led to a halt, prompting the Byzantines to assemble their forces. Mihran employed a double stratagem. Mihran first advanced toward Mindouos to provoke the Byzantines, who were confident in their numerical superiority, and then feigned a retreat by withdrawing toward Thannuris, where he had prepared an ambush. The Persians concealed ditches behind their lines and left openings for a controlled retreat. Their cavalry then feigned flight, enticing the Byzantine cavalry into pursuit. The same stratagem was used by Hephthalites against the Persian shah Peroz during the war of 484.
3	a	Syvänne 2021, p. 52.			On the basis of Zachariah Rhetor (9.2) we know that the battle took place close to Thannuris. This means that Mihran resorted to a double stratagem. He first led the Persian army near Mindous to provoke the Romans into action, after which he feigned fear and retreated to Thannuris where he had prepared a trap for the Romans. The Romans followed confidently because they had a numerical advantage. Once he reached the area near Thannuris, Mihran resorted to the same stratagem that the Hepthaelites had used to defeat the Persian Shahanshah Peroz in 485. The Persians had dug several concealed ditches among their trenches leaving several openings through which their troops could retreat. When Belisarius and the Roman army arrived, the Persians duly deployed their cavalry in front of the ditches, after which they feigned flight. Two rash young brothers, Coutzes and Boutzes, swallowed the bait and charged after them. Their example was followed by the rest of the cavalry. The Roman cavalry line galloped with abandon straight into the trenches at full speed and fell into the pits. The attached diagram presents my best educated guess of the likeliest deployment pattern of the armies, which is based on the information provided by the Strategikon (12.3) of the Roman combat formation which was used when there was fewer infantry than cavalry present.
4		Shahîd 1995, p. 78.			Jabala's death at the Battle of Thannuris came about as a result of the Persian entrenchment tactics. This device was first used by the Ephthalites Huns against the Persian king Peroz in central Asia in 484. The Persians borrowed the tactic from the Huns and used it against the Byzantines at Thannuris in 528; ...
The defeat weakened the Byzantine army along the eastern frontier.
3	c	Syvänne 2021, p. 52.			It is clear that the battle was an utter disaster for the Romans. It destroyed their morale completely, and they had now lost most of their regular army of the east. The results of this disastrous defeat were still visible two years later at the battles of Dara and Satala.
References
Historian Ilkka Syvänne notes that earlier Byzantine infantry had demonstrated that disciplined troops armed with pila could successfully resist cavalry.
3	b	Syvänne 2021, p. 52.			The Isaurian combat equipment was ill-suited for fighting against cavalry (although this would not have been decisive had the infantry possessed the will to fight, as is so well proven by the good combat performance of earlier Roman infantries armed only with pila-javelins against cavalry forces).

@A.Cython: could you transcribe the source texts for the above statements into the Notes column. Vestrian24Bio 03:32, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

• Source spot-check: pass. Vestrian24Bio 05:52, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

Final review

• EARWIG shows 6.5% - violation unlikely. Vestrian24Bio 03:32, 6 October 2026 (UTC)
• According to link-dispenser (permalink),
  • 4 refs may need archive URLs.
    • I added the archive url for "Syriac Chronicle", but the other two are already related to archive-type urls, e.g., Internet Archive website. The forth one was replaced by the University of Cardiff, which acts as a database.

  Vestrian24Bio 03:32, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

• Media usage:
  • File:Roman-Persian Frontier in Late Antiquity.svg
  • (portal image) File:Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century, square.svg

  All files have proper copyright tags, captions and alt texts. Vestrian24Bio 03:32, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

All else good, passing for GA. Vestrian24Bio 05:52, 6 October 2026 (UTC)

Good Article review progress box

Criteria: 1a. prose () 1b. MoS () 2a. ref layout () 2b. cites WP:RS () 2c. no WP:OR () 2d. no WP:CV () 3a. broadness () 3b. focus () 4. neutral () 5. stable () 6a. free or tagged images () 6b. pics relevant () Note: this represents where the article stands relative to the Good Article criteria. Criteria marked are unassessed

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.