Aphranius
Context
Aphranius is the head of Pontius Pilate's secret police. He often shows up as the hooded man, with his head almost invisible. He is a master in disguise and deception.
Aphranius is not just the executioner of Pilate's dirty jobs, he also helps him, through clever but sneaky discussions, to find creative solutions for situations which can't be discussed in public, or which can't be made public at all.
Ernest Renan
Elsewhere on this website, you can read more on the various sources which Bulgakov used to write the biblical story of The Master and Margarita. One of them was La vie de Jésus or The Life of Jesus, written in 1863 by the French philosopher Ernest Renan (1823-1892).
In Bulgakov's archives was also found another work of Renan, L'Antéchrist or The Antichrist from 1873. Both texts are part of Renan's magnum opus Histoire des origines du christianisme or History of the Origins of Christianity, written between 1863 and 1883. This oeuvre of 7 volumes was rather controversial in its time, because of Renan's assertions that «the life of Jesus should be written like the life of any historic person», and that the Bible could and should be subject to the same critical scrutiny as other historical documents. It caused some controversy and it enraged many Christians.
Aphranius' prototype
In L'Antéchrist, Renan wrote about Sextus Aphranius Burrus (1- 62), a Roman with Gaul roots - he was probably born in Vaison-la-Romaine, not far from Avignon. Aphranius Burrus was successively military tribune, procurator and private guard of empress Livia Drusilla II (58 BC-22) - the widow of emperor August (63 BC-19). Later he was also the private guard of the emperors Tiberius (42 BC-37) and Claudius (10 BC-54).
Aphranius Burrus (Memento Mori, Mick Baltes)
In 54, Aphranius Burrus helped Julia Agrippina the Younger (15-59) to get her 16-year old son Nero (37-68) on the trone by a ruse, leaving the Senate no option but to accept the choice. He became one of Nero's advisors, the other advisor being the philosopher and writer Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC-65).
Aphranius and Seneca (Memento Mori, Mick Baltes)
Nero had to tolerate that his mother Julia Agrippina the Younger claimed an always more important role for herself. It was by her mediation that Aphranius Burrus got control on the Praetorian Guards in the year 51. He had an excellent military reputation but he knew very well that he had to be grateful to Agrippina. He could prevent that Nero assassinated his mother a first time in 58 - although it happened all the same one year later. Some sources say that Burrus provided a cover-up to Nero for the murder.
Emperor Nero
The first 5 years of Nero's government - the quinquennium Neronis - were generally described as «a school example of good governance», because Aphranius Burrus and Seneca, the two men behind the scene, were determining the policy. Aphranius Burrus was generally known as a just and virtuous person. For example, when Paul the apostle (3-67) was being arrested in Rome, he was treated very humanly. After having been interrogated by Aphranius Burrus, Paul was spared emprisonment at the Praetorian camp. He was allowed to arrange for his own accommodations and to receive visitors, and he was guarded by only one single Praetorian soldier.
Sextus Aphranius Burrus died in the year 62. Roman historians like Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (69-140) and Lucius Cassius Dio (150-229) claim that Burrus was poisoned by Nero.
Famous quotes
Some oneliners coming from Aphranius Burrus are still commonly known. He once said to the young emperor Nero: «When I have spoken once, do not question me again», and his last words, just before he died, were «Ego me bene habeo» or «With me everything's well».
English subtitles
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