You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website. Nothing says a family vacation like an RV, Princess Diana died when Harry was just 12 years old, It's looked — and felt — like a whole different world as we've been social distancing and attempting to keep each other safe, See All the Celebs Taking RV Trips This Summer, The Sweetest Photos of Princes Harry with Diana, From Empty Streets to Virtual Weddings: What Life Has Looked Like During the Coronavirus Pandemic. A spokeswoman for Mrs. Trump said at the time that she and her husband “communicate differently.”. February 3, 1878. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=940CE1DC113FE63BBC4B53DFB4668383669FDE&oref=slogin. In December, the campaign shared a meme depicting Trump as Marvel character Thanos while trying to make a statement about him trouncing his political opponents in the face of his impeachment. 1999. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/rome.htm, "The death ­of Nero." Text us for exclusive photos and videos, royal news, and way more. http://www.biloxidiocese.org/special/adlimina/?pageID=1203, "The burning of Rome, 64 A.D." Eyewitness to History. For one thing, the fiddle didn’t exist in ancient Rome. Other social media users seemed just as perplexed about it as Trump.

As Nero rebuilt Rome in a new style more to his liking, some believed he used the fire as an excuse for new construction. “Who knows what this means, but it sounds good to me!” Trump, 73, tweeted on Sunday afternoon along with the post, which was originally shared by the White House’s social media director, Dan Scavino.

Notice that Tacitus does not make any reference to musical instruments. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Plantagenet, I will; and like thee, Nero, Play on the lute, beholding the towns burn. If you would like to opt out of browser push notifications, please refer to the following instructions specific to your device and browser: Trump Shares Head-Scratching Meme That Even He Doesn't Understand: 'Who Knows What This Means'. In 1649 the playwright George Daniel committed this line to print: “Let Nero fiddle out Rome’s obsequies.” "Nero fiddled while Rome burned. University of California - Berkeley. Emperor Nero was a gifted cithara player. The president has also been long criticized for using social media to mock his political rivals and other citizens with whom he disagrees. It’s unclear whether the meme was referring to the president’s 2020 re-election campaign — and the idea that his victory is inevitable — or the continuing spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States or the volatile stock market the virus has caused or something else entirely. In this engraving, Nero presides over the burning of Christians at the stake.

Over the centuries, the cithara was replaced by a fiddle.

This is due to the fact that the fiddle was not invented until much later, possibly in the 11 th century. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) launched into a pointed critique of Donald Trump during his online address Monday at the Democratic National Convention, comparing the president to the Roman emperor Nero, who legend has played the fiddle while his city burned. This confirmed to many that he was responsible, and the story took hold. Canfield, Leoon H. "The Early Persecution of the Christians." New York Times. RELATED: Melania Trump Touts Women’s Role in U.S. as Her Husband Uses Slur Against Rival Elizabeth Warren. But Twitter users were quick to point out that Thanos is a supervillain known for committing mass genocide who is eventually defeated by The Avengers.

We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. However, Nero had a great passion for music and enjoyed playing the cithara – a stringed instrument like a lyre (see below) which was perhaps, over time, replaced by the more universally recognised word ‘fiddle’. http://www-atdp.berkeley.edu/2030/jmoriuchi/violin-origins.html, Information about the device's operating system, Information about other identifiers assigned to the device, The IP address from which the device accesses a client's website or mobile application, Information about the user's activity on that device, including web pages and mobile apps visited or used, Information about the geographic location of the device when it accesses a website or mobile application. Picture: Getty So great meme, idiots,” one user responded then. Around the same time, First Lady Melania Trump made a rare public statement denouncing an impeachment witness for mentioning son Barron’s name in a joke about the president. The Law Book Exchange, Ltd. 2005. http://books.google.com/books?id=Gr9xtakCRpsC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=nero+the+destruction+of+troy&source=web&ots=VEZgTjhpB9&sig=rObRshHjQ32PJsRYR4Q5YHvcZow, Gyles, Mary Francis.

Coyote Ugly Turns 20: Where Is the Cast Now? “Guys I think the hamster on the wheel inside our president’s head just collapsed,” one user responded. “Thanos was the bad guy who was eventually defeated by the good guys. "The origins and history of the violin." Diocese of Biloxi.

"­ The Classical Journal. Some said Trump was unintentionally comparing himself to the mad Roman emperor Nero — who, so the saying goes, "fiddled while Rome burned" Music historians believe the viol class of instruments (to which the fiddle belongs) was not developed until the 11th century. Some said Trump was unintentionally comparing himself to the mad Roman emperor Nero — who, so the saying goes, "fiddled while Rome burned", President Donald Trump on Sunday shared a head-scratching meme showing him playing violin with the caption: “My next piece is called…nothing can stop what’s coming.”. Somewhere between that play, composed about 1590, and a play called The Tragedy of Nero, published in 1624, the lute had become a fiddle. The Flavian Amphitheatre or Colosseum in Rome, built in 70-80 AD, October 1998. Introducing ... PEOPLE's Products Worth the Hype, Twitter Jeers After Trump Campaign Video Turns Him Into Marvel Supervillain Thanos — ‘Great Meme, Idiots’, Melania Trump Touts Women’s Role in U.S. as Her Husband Uses Slur Against Rival Elizabeth Warren. We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic.

Most of what we know about Nero's reign comes from three ancient writers: Tacitus, Suetonius, and Greek historian Cassius Dio. Trump and his election campaign have a pattern of bizarre social media use, which has sometimes boomeranged on them. But perhaps the most interesting rumor that emerged from the great fire was that Nero had played his fiddle while Rome burned. Trump used Twitter to jab at teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, telling the then 16-year-old in December to “chill” and “work on her anger management” as he complained about her being named TIME’s Person of the Year.

Nero blamed Christians for the fire, leading to horrific persecution and executions, but in the aftermath, he started to build on the ruins. January 1947. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/journals/CJ/42/4/Nero_Fiddled*.html, Rodi, Bishop Thomas J. Even if Nero did perform while Rome burned, it most likely would not have been with knowledge of the fire taking place, and it would not have been a fiddle. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Weird & Wacky, Copyright © 2020 HowStuffWorks, a division of InfoSpace Holdings, LLC, a System1 Company. Some said Trump was unintentionally comparing himself to the mad Roman emperor Nero — who, so the saying goes, “fiddled while Rome burned.”, RELATED: Twitter Jeers After Trump Campaign Video Turns Him Into Marvel Supervillain Thanos — ‘Great Meme, Idiots’. Some rumors speculated that Nero himself had set the fire, others that he had ordered it. You'll get the latest updates on this topic in your browser notifications. "Message to young people: Friday, 12/3/2004." How did public fountains, like those in Rome, work without any type of motor to pump the water?