Sextus Julius Africanus was a Christian historian and scholar of the late second and early third centuries CE. Likely born in Jerusalem, he served in the Roman army and was a well-traveled intellectual. He visited Alexandria and led a diplomatic mission to the Roman emperor on behalf of a Palestinian city. He also corresponded with major Christian thinkers of his era, including Origen.

Africanus is most significant for his written works, which survive only in fragments. His major achievement was the Chronographiae, a five-volume universal history. This chronicle was the first Christian attempt to synchronize biblical history with the events of the Greek and Roman worlds, creating a timeline that culminated in the life of Christ. This historical framework proved highly influential for later Christian historians.

He also authored the Cesti, a large, encyclopedic work dedicated to the emperor. It covered a wide array of topics, from agriculture and medicine to military tactics and natural magic, reflecting the broad interests of an educated Christian within Roman culture. A letter from Africanus discussing the genealogy of Jesus also survives.