“At least Emperor Nero supposedly only fiddled while Rome burned; he didn’t tell the Romans that the fire was no big deal.”

— Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, March 12 2020

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Yes, we get the point. But, a flawed premise and a weak lead.

That Nero fiddled during the Great Fire of Rome is merely a legend, not reported in ancient historical sources; and these sources differ about many aspects of Nero’s tyrannical reign. Kristof’s “supposedly” is required, but weakens an already weak lead.

— Roger W. Smith

   March 2020