original name, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (a.d. 37 - 68) an ancient
Roman emperor (a.d. 54 - 68), famed for his cruelty. He had his
mother and wife killed and kicked his mistress to
death while she was pregnant.
Nero also persecuted Christians, blaming them for a great
fire in
Rome. A famous
legend holds that
Nero caused the great
fire of
Rome himself and played a stringed
instrument while watching it. To say that someone is "
fiddling while
Rome burns" is to say that the person is indifferent to catastrophe.
—SHSBC Binder 15 Approved Glossary