For Good Measure

Rome Burns to the Tunes of Pipe Organs

Organ History with Dr. Robert M. Thompson

In the second article of this series, our Interim Director of Music and Composer-in-Residence explores a fascinating side-note to his earlier article about the hydraulis.

There’s an old saying, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” On July 18, 64 CE, about 70 percent of the great city burned to the ground. The old saying has no merit, unless one interprets “fiddled” as having merely “fiddled around,” not caring about the burning city and its citizens.

It is documented that Nero blamed the Christians for the fire and put many of them to death.

Nero is known to have made music of some sort while his people suffered, but the fiddle had not even been invented yet. However, Nero had five hydraulis organs in his lavish palace, so it just might be that Nero played the organ while Rome burned. The poor Christians likely heard an organ as they were being slaughtered by lions in the Colosseum and similar venues. The hydraulis was a very loud, raucous instrument used for many outdoor activities.