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. Show your Neros or anything relevant
Here is a Nero issue with his unmistakable portrait, struck in Rome the very next year after the fire, with the reverse showing Nero (as Apollo Citharoedus) holding/playing... not a violin/"fiddle" (which was not invented until an approximate 1400 years later)... but a different stringed instrument that Nero was known to have played -- a type of lyre called a Kithara. Below is a close-up of the reverse's portrayal of Nero as Apollo playing a lyre: Of course there is no proof that Nero played ANY musical instrument at all during the actual fire. However, the widely known adage that "Nero fiddled while Rome burned" has persisted for many years, and has become a legendary attachment to many people's knowledge of that big fire during his reign.
Agrippina Junior (Germanicus and Agrippina's daughter, Claudius' niece and wife, Nero's mother) Nero Nero/Claudia Octavia (Claudius' daughter, Nero's first wife, Nero had her and Agrippina Junior killed) Poppaea (Otho's ex-wife, Nero's 2nd wife. She complained about him spending too much time at the chariot races and Nero kicked her to death while she was pregnant) This all according to the stories anyway, who knows what is true and what is not. Get's even crazier when you get into the "Sporus" part of the tale
NERO with his Wife: RI Poppea-Nero BI tetradrachm of Alexandria LI yr10 63-64AD Milne 217 RPC 5275 The Guy that got the ball rolling to STOP THE MUSIC… VINDEX RI Civil War VINDEX 68-69 CE AR Denarius 3.22g Gallic mint SALVS GENERIS HVMANI Victory l globe - SPQR in wreath RIC 72 BMCRE 34-36 RSC 420 RARE
