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Learn about the devastating fire that destroyed most of Rome in AD 64, allegedly started by Emperor Nero. Find out the causes, effects, and sources of this historical event.
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Nero had many enemies and is remembered as one of history’s most sadistic and cruelest leaders. But there are a couple of problems with the story.
In July of 64 A.D., a great fire ravaged Rome for six days, destroying 70 percent of the city and leaving half its population homeless. According to a well-known expression, Rome’s emperor at the time, the decadent and unpopular Nero, “fiddled while Rome burned.” The expression has a double meaning: Not only did Nero play music while his people suffered, but he was an ineffectual leader in a time of crisis.
It’s been pretty easy to cast blame on Nero, who had many enemies and is remembered as one of history’s most sadistic and cruelest leaders—but there are a couple of problems with this story.
Nero
For one thing, the fiddle didn’t exist in ancient Rome. Music historians believe the viol class of instruments (to which the fiddle belongs) was not developed until the 11th century. If Nero played anything, it would probably have been the cithara, a heavy wooden instrument with four to seven strings—but there is still no solid evidence that he played one during the Great Fire.
The Roman historian Tacitus wrote that Nero was rumored to have sung about the destruction of Rome while watching the city burn; however, he stated clearly that this was unconfirmed by eyewitness accounts.
The Roman Empire is vividly brought to life through the lens of the Colosseum.
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The web page explores the legend of Nero playing music while Rome was on fire in 64 A.D. It questions the accuracy of the story and the sources that reported it.
Nov 19, 2020 · November 20, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. EST. The name Nero immediately conjures an image of a demented, olive-wreathed emperor demonically fiddling in the red glow of a burning Rome — a picture that has...
- Diana Preston
Nov 13, 2009 · Learn about the great fire of Rome that destroyed much of the city in 64 AD and how Emperor Nero used it to his advantage. Find out the truth behind the legend of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.
- Missy Sullivan
The great fire that ravaged Rome in 64 illustrates how low Nero’s reputation had sunk by this time. Taking advantage of the fire’s destruction, Nero had the city reconstructed in the Greek style and began building a prodigious palace—the Golden House—which, had it been finished, would…
The Great Fire of Rome, a six-day inferno, would come to be known as one of the most devastating disasters of the ancient world, leaving a city of splendor in ruins and its people in a state of despair.
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On July 18, 64 C.E., a fire started in the enormous Circus Maximus stadium in Rome, now the capital of Italy. When the fire was finally extinguished six days later, 10 of Rome’s 14 districts had burned. Ancient historians blamed Rome’s infamous emperor, Nero, for the fire.
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