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Pescennius Niger (135/140-194) was born into an old Italian equestrian family, and was the first member to become a Roman senator. He was appointed by Commodus to be imperial legate of Syria in 191, where he was serving when news came of the murder of Pertinax in 193 and the auctioning of the imperial throne to Didius Julianus.<br/><br/> Niger was a well regarded public figure, and the citizens of Rome called out for him to return to Rome and claim the title from Julianus. Consequently, the eastern legions proclaimed Niger as emperor in 193, the second emperor to claim the imperial title after Septimius Severus. The resulting chaos and civil war was known as the Year of the Five Emperors, with claimants all across the Roman Empire vying for the throne.<br/><br/> Niger and Severus fought in the east to see who would become undisputed emperor, though Niger was militarily outmatched and outnumbered. Severus offered Niger the chance to surrender and go into exile, but he refused, and was eventually captured in 194. He was beheaded, with his severed head travelling to Byzantium first in an attempt to cow the city into surrendering, before eventually arriving in Rome where it was displayed for all to see.
Pescennius Niger (135/140-194) was born into an old Italian equestrian family, and was the first member to become a Roman senator. He was appointed by Commodus to be imperial legate of Syria in 191, where he was serving when news came of the murder of Pertinax in 193 and the auctioning of the imperial throne to Didius Julianus.<br/><br/> Niger was a well regarded public figure, and the citizens of Rome called out for him to return to Rome and claim the title from Julianus. Consequently, the eastern legions proclaimed Niger as emperor in 193, the second emperor to claim the imperial title after Septimius Severus. The resulting chaos and civil war was known as the Year of the Five Emperors, with claimants all across the Roman Empire vying for the throne.<br/><br/> Niger and Severus fought in the east to see who would become undisputed emperor, though Niger was militarily outmatched and outnumbered. Severus offered Niger the chance to surrender and go into exile, but he refused, and was eventually captured in 194. He was beheaded, with his severed head travelling to Byzantium first in an attempt to cow the city into surrendering, before eventually arriving in Rome where it was displayed for all to see.
'Negroland and Guinea with the European Settlements, Explaining what belongs to England, Holland, Denmark, etc'. By H. Moll Geographer (Printed and sold by T. Bowles next ye Chapter House in St. Pauls Church yard, & I. Bowles at ye Black Horse in Cornhill, 1729).
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.