phrase
Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned
Doing something trivial or self-indulgent while a crisis you should be managing unfolds.
Origin
In 64 CE a fire devastated Rome. The emperor Nero was rumored to have played the lyre and sung about the fall of Troy as the city burned โ and to have started the fire himself to clear land for a palace. Historians today doubt both claims (the fiddle didn't even exist yet), but the image stuck and has defined his reputation for two thousand years.
Modern usage
Standard accusation in political writing whenever a leader is seen as distracted during a disaster โ tweeting through a hurricane, golfing during a pandemic, posting through a scandal.
In the wild
While the platform burned, the CEO was on stage at a vanity conference โ fiddling while Rome burned.โ tech criticism
Tags
negligence
emperor
crisis