Sextus Afranius Burrus (born AD 1 in Vasio, Gallia Narbonensis; = ILS 1321. English translation died AD 62) was a prefect of the

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...

and was, together with

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...

, an advisor to the Roman

emperor Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...

, making him a very powerful man in the early years of Nero's reign.

Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from 49 to 54 AD, the fourth wife and niece of Emperor Claudius. Agrippina was one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Claud ...

chose him as Prefect in 51 to secure her son Nero's place as emperor after the death of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

. For the first eight years of Nero's rule, Burrus and Nero's former tutor Seneca helped maintain a stable government. Burrus acquiesced to Nero's murder of Agrippina the Younger but lost his influence over Nero anyway. He died in 62, some say from poison. The

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

"Burrus" is the Latin version of the name Pyrrhus, king of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

Sources

* Tacitus ''Annales'
12.4214.51
* Suetonius ''Nero'
35.5
* = ILS 1321 * Dio 62.13

References

1st-century Romans AD 1 births 62 deaths Burrus, Sextus Praetorian prefects People from Gallia Narbonensis {{AncientRome-bio-stub