NERO
FIDDLED
WHILE
ROME
BURNED
LEAVE THE FIDDLIN^ TO NERO
The night that Nero was presented to the
Roman soldiers as their sovereign the Tiber
river ran four miles up-stream and all musicians
went into hiding. This emperor, who murdered
his wife and ruled an empire with an iron hand,
believed himself to be the greatest musician of the
day. He recited poetry and sang ballads while ac
companying himself on the lyre (progenitor of
the fiddle). He was so bad that he had to hire
professional Claquers. In fact his music was so
terrible that his subjects began to think he was
crazy or that anyone who listened to him was
crazy. Deciding that his singing and poetry need
ed new inspiration, Nero ordered most of Rome
burned to the ground. As the city was burning,
this would-be musician fiddled and sang a dirge
while watching the flames.
Most historians agree that Nero was crazy—not
because of his fiddlin’ but because of his blood
thirstiness in ordering Rome burned. Anyone who
would maliciously cause a building or a city to be
burned would be judged as insane today as they
were in Nero’s time. Yet every year 400,000
homes are destroyed by fire, 12,000 persons are
burned to death and property loss is in excess of
$800,000,000—most of which is caused by the
carelessness of individuals. A fire caused by care-
CONTINUED . . .
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