Contrary to popular belief, Nero didn't play the violin. He played the bagpipes, a revered and reviled peasant's instrument now over 5,000 years old. Karl Turner explores the rise, fall, and revival of the bagpipes -- the instrument that simply refuses to go away. **This episode originally aired June 1, 2006.





On July 19, 64 AD, a fire broke out near Circus Maximus, Rome's mammoth chariot stadium. The fire raged for six days. The story goes that from his villa Emperor Nero watched and played the fiddle, but that's impossible. It would be 1500 years before that instrument was invented. But Nero did play a common folk instrument that's now almost 5,000 years old. Its origins date back to ancient Mesopotamia and there are variations of it in almost every corner of Africa, Asia and Europe. Nero played the tibia utricularis, the bagpipes, an instrument as adored as it is abhorred.

And yes, January 25 is indeed Robbie Burns Day. The pipes are famously associated with Scotland, but as A Glorious Racket explains, that's really quite recent.



**This episode was produced by Stewart Young.





