When people think of Nero they often conjure up the anachronistic image of Nero playing a violin while the city of Rome burned. There were no violins at the time, but there was a fire, which started on the night of July 18 (or 19) in A.D. 64, by the Circus Maximus.
Nero is also associated with the persecution of Christians whom he blamed for the devastating fire in Rome. As a result of the fire, Nero was able to rebuild Rome, including his golden palace Domus Aurea.
(Nero image © 2006 Clipart.com)
Comments
Where does the myth about the violin playing come from?
The rumor actually started as him playing a lyre while the city burned, but over the years people who didn’t know what a lyre was put a violin in its place in their telling of the story.
I don’t know if Nero played the violin, but at the fire he is supposed to have quoted Augustus in his inimitable way: “After me, the world will burn – on the contrary, while I live!”
If you know any more quotes by Nero, I’d love to hear them.
Nero palyed an instrument called the citar, the forerunner of the modern guitar. he used to stage recitals at the palace, at which sycophantic supporters would cheer enthusaistically. It is possible that he played the citar while Rome burned.
it was a fiddle ? Thats what i thought.
Leonard – Are you making a joke? If so, I don’t get it.
How many original resources for this period are there? Two? Twenty? I’ve just recently developed an interest in ancient history, and I wonder how many accurate accounts of any given event actually exist.
Nero played a lyre called a cithara. He also reported by some as reciting a song about the burning of Troy as he watched his city burn from the Tower in his Gardens of Maecenas. He also supposedly went into the city to help direct firefighting efforts and he opened up his gardens to the homeless.
Patricia – You may wish to look at Accounts of Nero. Main historical sources on Nero are Tacitus, Dio Cassius, and Suetonius. Josephus is another. Pliny lived at the same time, as did Plutarch, but we don’t have more than fragments of his bio of Nero. Contemporaries had access to materials we lack, but all writers have their biases that affect accuracy.