Nero's Fire

When many people think of the Great Fire of Rome during the reign of Nero, they often conjure up the picture of Nero himself playing the violin. There were,though, in fact no violins during this time period. Anyhow he burned the city down on July 18 64AD and then blamed it on the Christians. This is what then started the persecution of the Christians in Rome, and after this Nero began to rebuild the old part of the city with his new Golden Palace called the Domus Aurea. This is what many believe to be the reason why Nero burned down the city.

http://ancienthistory.about.com/b/2009/07/18/neros-fire-in-rome.htm