Meet Sextus

The hero of Deep Calling Deep is Sextus Afranius Burrus. Sextus was a real person, born around born AD 1 in Vasio, Gallia Narbonensis (now southern France).

By all accounts, Sextus was an honorable man. In 51 AD, Nero’s mother Agrippina, then married to Claudius, chose him to be the sole Praetorian Prefect, going against the tradition of having two people fill the most important jobs in the Empire.

Before his position as prefect, he was in the army. As an equestrian (the class just below the patricians) he would have been a military tribune and probably served under Germanicus.  Later, he held posts in the households of Augustus’s widow Livia, and emperors Tiberius and Claudius.

A few years later, Claudius died under suspicious circumstances, probably murdered by Agrippina. She had convinced Claudius to adopt Nero, older than Claudius’s own son Britannicus, as his heir. The Praetorian Giard, under Sextus’s command, hailed the 16–year-old as the next emperor.

Along with Seneca, the philosopher, who had been Nero’s tutor when he was younger, Burrus mentored Nero. Seneca and Burrus were largely responsible for the success of Nero’s reign for the first five years.

These years were exemplary. The historian Trajan later said that first five years of Nero’s government were considered the happiest and best of the imperial era. Taxation was reduced. Capital punishment was abolished. The Empire flourished.

But all good things must come to an end, and as Nero grew older he paid less and less attention to Burrus and Seneca. Nero became more and more erratic, and his reign ended in ignominy and tragedy, with several murders along the way. History doesn’t tell us much more about Sextus. We know nothing of his family. We know he died in early 62 from throat cancer, probably helped along by a dose of poison disguised as medicine from Nero.

Neither Scripture nor history tells us if Sextus ever met the Apostle Paul, but I think it’s a good possibility.

The Praetorian Prefect had charge of all the state prisons in Rome, so Paul would have been under his control. The  prefect was part of the advisory council, which heard most of the appeals to Rome like Paul’s. Paul was delivered to the prefect upon his arrival, but since he had done nothing against Roman law, he was allowed to live in rented quarters with all the visitors Paul could hope for.

There are many theories about exactly when Paul was under house arrest in Rome. Some say he was there as late as 64. I believe he had to be released in early 62, about the time of Sextus’s death. The man who replaced him, Tigellinus, was an evil man who accompanied Nero on his adventures around Rome at night, seeking houses to rob and people to violate. He was also the man who convinced Nero to blame the Christiani for the fire of 64. I don’t think there’s any way he would have released Paul.

In Deep Calling Deep, you’ll meet Timothy, Luke, Paul and Sextus, and some other surprise guests from the pages of the Bible. You can read the first chapter for free here.