Short Stuff: Nero and His Fiddle | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey and welcome to Short Stuff. Josh, Chuck, Jerry sitting in for Dave and. that makes this an official Short Stuff. We have the quorum. Let's go. >> That's right. Do you recognize this. article? >> No, who wrote it? Did I write it? Did. you write it? >> Yeah, you wrote it. >> Did I really? >> Uh-huh. >> Wow, I was like this is pretty good. >> took your name off of it cuz I was. hoping you wouldn't remember this one. >> That's awesome. Yeah, this is not a bad. article at all. That's great. Thank you.

for that cuz yeah, I like this. I was. like I like the cut of this writer's. jib. >> [laughter]. >> Uh yeah, so this is from the old. howstuffworks.com days and this is about. the and I was surprised we hadn't done a. shorty on this. I was I was like surely. we have the story of Nero fiddling while. Rome burned and when I looked it up, there you were, buddy. >> Um yeah, I actually searched for an. episode too cuz it just sounds like. we've definitely talked about it at some. point but it just had to have been a.

part of a larger episode. So let's dig. in because. I feel like everybody, thanks to my. article, has heard that Nero fiddled. [laughter]. while Rome burned and it turns out that. that is probably a piece of ancient. propaganda that survived. almost 2,000 years at this point. >> I feel like you have a little extra wind. beneath your wings now that you. [laughter] know this is yours. >> I've never felt more alive than I do. right now. >> Uh yeah, we're talking obviously about.

the Great Fire of Rome for 6 days and 7. nights. That's when Rome saw and this is. AD 64. Uh saw 70% of its city destroyed. and only four of its 14 districts um. intact afterward. >> Wow. >> And the Roman historian Tacitus. uh wrote that out of the about half the. people of the million people, uh which. would be by my count 500,000. >> Mhm. >> uh were rendered uh without a home. because of this great fire. >> I knew that.

>> [laughter]. >> So, this being a massive tragedy, which. 2,000 years, I feel like we can we can. add a joke or two at this point, but. >> For sure. >> the the it was such a huge tragedy and. it was just so out of nowhere that of. course people just have a an innate need. to blame, to find cause, assign blame. People loved doing that even back in the. day. And also, people back in the they. were as susceptible to rumors and urban. legends as.

as we are today. And those things. started up really quickly. One of the. main ones was that somehow the. government was involved in this. >> Yeah, for sure. Like hey, we saw people. we saw men fanning the flames. And when. confronted, they said that they were. under orders to do so. Uh or you know, maybe somebody actually started this. fire on purpose and Nero uh the emperor. Nero was. kind of the prime suspect, it seems. like. >> Yeah, that he ordered it that he set the.

fire or some people um he he had to. rebuild Rome. I mean, you had to rebuild. it after so many of the districts were. just totally leveled. And he was like, let's build this in I don't know, Nero. style. Which is surprisingly close to. the craftsman style of the 1920s. >> Oh, really? >> No. >> [laughter]. >> I was like, that's very surprising. But. I thought you were going to say art. deco. >> I was going to at first and I was like, no, let me come up with something else. >> Right. >> have just said art deco. It would have. gotten a better laugh. But um he rebuilt.

it in the manner that he liked. I mean, he was in charge at the time. And people. were like, I that's why Rome burned cuz. this guy wanted to rebuild it more in. his image. >> Yeah, exactly. Um so, that rumor was. going around and through that rumor came. the story that while the great fire was. burning uh Nero played his fiddle and. just sort of watched it happen. Uh. Should we take a break right there? >> We should because I mean what's coming.

up next is just eye-popping. >> That's right. More goodness from. Josh Clark of 15 years ago right after. this. >> [music]. [music]. >> So, Nero's like, "Wait a minute. Wait. Wait. I wasn't fiddling. We'll find out.

why that's definitive in a second. Why are you blaming me?" And they're. like, "We're just blaming you. You got. to accept it." He's like, "I don't. I'm. going to find a scapegoat myself. I'll. trot them out publicly and then you can. just stop blaming me." And he looks. around and he's like, "These Christians. are new. I'm going to persecute them.". And this actually became the first. persecution of Christians in history. This was. 64 CE. And I mean Christianity was so. new that there were still original.

apostles around who ended up being. executed in this. persecution. >> Yeah. Paul Who was the other one? >> Paul and Peter. Paul was. Paul was beheaded and Peter was. crucified upside down. >> Yeah. So, like torturous brutal. executions were happening. because Nero was looking for a scapegoat. because he was blamed for this fire. Uh we you know, when you said before. we're going to talk about why it's. definitive that he definitely didn't.

fiddle is because there was no fiddle at. the time. Music historians basically agreed that. the the viol class of instruments. which is like a violin. didn't come around to the 11th century. So, about 1,500 years later. So, there. literally were no fiddles at the time. >> but he did play something called the. cithara. >> Yeah. >> Which is like a laptop harp. The top is. like for strumming, the bottom is for. plucking. You've probably seen something like it. before, but he was really into it. So.

much so that when Rome conquered some. new land, he would schedule music. festivals in these new lands, and he. would schedule them at times that he. could go and compete. He would compete. And the Senate was not happy about this. They're like, "You're competing against. commoners. You're the emperor." And. apparently, Nero actually was more like. than we think he was today, especially. among the lower classes of Rome, because. he. didn't behave nearly as superior toward.

them as other elites in Rome had and. did. >> Oh, okay. Well, you know, one thing he. definitely did was in the immediate. after aftermath of the fire, um he did a lot, actually. He he. um took a lot of measures to provide for. the citizenry. Um he was at his place in Antium on the. outskirts of Rome when it broke out. He. immediately rushed back uh to the fire. Uh Tacitus, that historian that I. mentioned, was a boy at the time during. the blaze, and he provided accounts of.

like, "Hey, Nero helped coordinate the. firefighting himself on the first. night." Uh he opened up public buildings. for housing. He opened up his own. gardens for temporary shelter. Uh he imported grain from other cities. close by. um that I guess he sold, but sold like. super cheap. >> Yeah, he still stole it, though. I. thought that was a little hinky. >> Yeah, for sure. >> But yeah, so he he was in a lot of the. residents of Rome liked him, and Tacitus. tells us like he did actually swing into.

action. And yet, he still managed to to. bear the blame throughout this. Like his. persecution of Christians did not work. Um and apparently, like we said, the the. fiddling thing was not It's not possible. that he fiddled. It is possible that he. was playing the cithara, but because of. his responsiveness, it seems like that's. probably not the case. So, because this was probably largely. created by the Senate, like the I think.

they were working hard to keep the blame. on Nero, right? >> Uh-huh. >> Um. there's a. 1940s historian from University of North. Carolina named Mary Francis Giles. >> Go Tar Heels. >> Yeah. Uh and yes, if you're a Tar Tar Heel, you can be proud of Mary Francis Giles. because she was one of those rare people. who managed to see something that. everybody knows in a different light, at. a different angle. And she's like, "You. know, fiddling. doesn't just mean playing a violin. It. can also mean just kind of doing.

something like. with your fingers like ineffectually, like you're wasting time and energy. You're just fiddling around. Maybe. that's what they originally meant.". >> I don't know why I never thought of. that. >> I definitely hadn't, either. Even after. writing this, it didn't even look. familiar. [laughter]. >> [gasps]. >> Yeah, she was like, "You know, maybe. he's just fiddling as in like doing. something sort of useless at the time.". Uh it sounds like that didn't happen, either. But, um yeah, maybe they viewed. it as inadequate at the time like what.

he was doing. Maybe the the truth wasn't. getting around that he was actually kind. of helping. >> Right. And that actually fits with the. the idea that this is propaganda that. the. >> Right. >> was basically saying Nero's responses. were not nearly enough. He was just. basically messing around. >> Yeah, for sure. But, you know, if you're like, "Man, Nero got a bad rap.". Uh there's a brilliant writer who took. that into consideration. but probably, I don't know, 15 years. ago, ish.

And said, "Hey, don't feel so bad for. Nero because Nero ascended to the throne. because his mom killed his uncle and. then Nero had his mom killed. >> Yeah. >> Uh and then of course the persecution of. the Christians. Uh. you know, hanging people by their feet and. decapitating them. Like don't don't feel. bad for this guy. >> No. Uh there was also damnation ad. bestias which is. sticking wild animals on on people for. executions. >> Yeah, no good. >> So uh Nero essentially was on his heels.

after that great fire. Um again remember the Senate didn't like. him like him that much. I I can't I. can't stress that enough. Um and so the army which he had been on. really good terms with for a while was. like we're not going to. uh work for you any longer. So there's a. potential coup brewing. Uh the Senate. declared him a a public enemy. which is not something you want levied. against you as an emperor. It meant that. he was probably going to be executed. So.

he pushed a dagger into his throat about. 4 years after the fire came and went. >> Yeah, he said, "I sense a coup brew.". That was it. >> [laughter]. >> I don't know if he'd talk like that. You. know, I'm watching this show right now. and it's. uh. >> [sighs]. >> Oh, Star City. Have you heard of this? >> No. >> Uh Star City is a show that is um. I can't remember the name of the the. first show but there was a show about. the the space race and there was an. American version uh for all mankind is.

what that was called. >> Okay. >> from the American perspective and Star. City is the space race from the Soviet. perspective. >> Oh. >> And it's really good. I think you would. like it but they they cast all British. actors. >> Mhm. >> and are doing British accents sort of. like they they used to just do for all. movies back in the day. Uh and it's just I got to wrap my head. around every single episode when all. these Brits are talking. >> Right. >> I I hear I try to hear it in like with a. Russian accent in my head and it just it.

kind of drives me nuts. >> Yeah. Yeah, I can get used to that kind of. thing, but I think it's also something. that if you once you focus in on it, you. just can't get past. >> I don't know why in 2026 they just. didn't say like, you know, do a Russian. accent. >> I know. It's appropriation. >> Russians. It's very strange. >> Um, but I guess that's it for the short. stuff, right? >> That's right. >> Okay. Well, everybody, short stuff is. out. >> Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts from.

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