In 55 AD, just months after Nero became emperor, his step-brother Britannicus died of poisoning, clearing Nero's path of any other potential contenders for the throne. 

One of the central themes I aim to convey throughout the While Rome Burns album is a sense of what it would be like to live in a world where the other members of one's own family are the most likely ones to try to betray or kill you — the climate in which every character in the story had to live every day of their lives.

With any ancient historical figure as sensationalized as Emperor Caligula, it won't do to consult only one source. In addition to the 2 primary ancient sources (Suetonius & Cassius Dio), I'm also reading all three of these modern accounts by historians Arther Ferrill, Aloys Winterling, and Anthony A Barrett.

Since beginning to work on the Ol Sonuf album While Rome Burns in January, the task of telling a story that spans 32 years and doing it justice has been daunting, to say the least.

Here's a short video clip from another new song for Ol Sonuf While Rome Burns that I was working on today. 

It's still in a super-rough early form but I hope you like it!

Here's the first preview from the upcoming OL SONUF album "While Rome Burns."

The album will be a concept album about the reign & subsequent fall of the Roman Emperor Nero (37 - 68 AD), but the story actually begins with the terrifying reign of Emperor Caligula, Nero's notoriously cruel (and some say insane) uncle.