(original name, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (a.d. 37 - 68)) a n 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 legendholds 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. —NVRD Approved Glossary