fiddle while Rome burns

• fiddle whilst Rome burns

From the ancient rumour that the Roman emperor Nero played a lyre whilst the city of Rome was burning.

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fiddle while Rome burns (third-person singular simple present fiddles while Rome burns, present participle fiddling while Rome burns, simple past and past participle fiddled while Rome burned or fiddled while Rome burnt)

1. (idiomatic) To neglect helping when one’s time is needed most; to ignore the major problem at hand (whilst doing something less important); to be idle, inactive, or uninterested in a time of great need.

• sit on one's hands
• sit on one's thumbs

• rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic
• bury one's head in the sand

• “fiddle while Rome burns”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.