Nero
Fiddled while burning
Nero was a Roman emperor (54–68 CE) infamous for cruelty, excess, and tyranny.
Historical accounts blame him for executing his mother and wives, and legend holds that he played music while Rome burned—though this is likely apocryphal.
His name now evokes any ruler who is callously indifferent to catastrophe or who persecutes others for sport: fiddling while Rome burns, like Nero.
Rome's inaugural emperor
- TiberiusSecond Roman emperor
- CaligulaDepraved third Roman emperor
- ClaudiusFourth Roman emperor
- CaesarRoman imperial title
dynasty · reign · imperial · throne · palace · succession · principate · deification
Systematic mistreatment of groups
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
- matricideMaternal murder
- executionCompleting a planned task
- AgrippinaRoman empress, power-hungry matriarch
Seneca · despotism · megalomania · paranoia · extravagance · decadence · debauchery · madness
Italy's capital city
- conflagrationLarge destructive blaze
- flamesVisible burning combustion
- blazeIntense burning fire
- destructionAct of completely ruining
rebuild · scapegoat · Christians · arson · fiddling · burning · ashes · devastation
Augustus
Rome's inaugural emperor
Caesar · dynasty · reign · imperial · throne · palace · succession · principate · deification · purple
persecution
Systematic mistreatment of groups
- crueltyDeliberate harm-causing disposition
- matricideMaternal murder
- executionCompleting a planned task
Agrippina · Seneca · despotism · megalomania · paranoia · extravagance · decadence · debauchery · madness · vanity
Rome
Italy's capital city
- conflagrationLarge destructive blaze
- flamesVisible burning combustion
- blazeIntense burning fire
destruction · rebuild · scapegoat · Christians · arson · fiddling · burning · ashes · devastation · legend
lyre
Small plucked string instrument
performer · Greece · competition · Olympia · charioteer · actor · audience · applause · stage · recital
- Ancient RomansJulius Caesar, patricians, consuls, Marcus Aurelius, Trajan
- Ancient LeadersAlexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Cyrus the Great, Pericles
- dictatorsdictator, tyrant, despot, autocrat, Stalin
- God-Kingsgod-king, pharaoh, divine emperor, divine ruler, living god
- Roman EmperorsAugustus, Theodosius I, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius
- emperors in filmGladiator, Napoleon, Caesar, Augustus, Caligula
NeroMarcus Aurelius
Stoic emperor of Rome
Mahatma Gandhi · Abraham Lincoln · Solomon · Good King Wenceslas · philosopher-king
NeroMarcus Aurelius
Stoic emperor of Rome
Trajan · Augustus · philosopher king · Hadrian · Titus
NeroConstantine
Emperor who embraced Christianity
Constantine the Great · Theodosius I · Charlemagne · Saint Peter · Pope