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 …