BURRUS, SEXTUS AFRANIUS, Roman general, was ap pointed prae f ectus praetorio by Claudius in A.D. 52, on the recom mendation of Agrippina, who thought one head of the praetorian cohorts would be more amenable than two. He was joint tutor to Nero with Seneca, and organized Nero's acclamation by the praetorians on the death of Claudius (55). He opposed the exe cutions ordered by Agrippina at the opening of the reign, and so long as he and Seneca kept their influence the reign of Nero was brilliantly successful. But in A.D. 6o Burrus refused to assist in the murder of Agrippina, and again opposed the murder of Octavia, Nero's wife, and Nero began to find him irksome. He died in A.D. 63. Tacitus alone gives Nero the benefit of the doubt whether his death was really due to poison. After his death Seneca by himself was helpless, and Nero ran his course unchecked.
See Tac. Ann. Dio., XLII., 13; C.I.L. XII., 5842.