Today's puzzle contains five foreign words: ENERO, ERAT, ESPANA (minus the tilde), CCCP and TIAS. Six, if you want to count ULNA, which is the name of a bone but is also the Latin word for elbow.
The puzzle includes NERO, clued with "Fiddle-playing emperor." Nero fiddling while Rome burned is a misconception that will not die. Roman historian Tacitus, who lived during Nero's reign, noted that when the fire started in Rome in 64 C.E., Nero was 35 miles away in his villa at Antium. As soon as he was informed of the fire, he raced back to Rome and assisted in fighting the flames. The violin was not developed until 1500 years after his death.