who fiddled while rome burned idiom
Origin. The source of this phrase is the story that Nero played the fiddle (violin) while Rome burned, during the great fire in AD 64. There are two major flaws with the story.Firstly, there was no such instrument as the fiddle (violin) in first century Rome.There's no definitive date for the invention of the violin, or of its synonym as fiddle, but it certainly wasn't until at least the 16th century. If Nero played anything during the Rome fire, it was probably the lyre.irstly, there was no such instrument as the fiddle (violin) in first century Rome. There's no definitive date for the invention of the violin, or of its synonym as fiddle, but it certainly wasn't until at least the 16th century. If Nero played anything during the Rome fire, it was probably the lyre.