Nereus
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Nereus. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
Son of Pontus and Gaea, and husband of Doris , by whom he became the father of the fifty Nereides . He is described as the wise and unerring old man of the sea. Nero, Claudius Domitius Caesar . A celebrated Roman emperor, son of Caius Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina , the daughter of Germanicus. His name is the synonym for cruelty and vice. In the night it was his wont to sally out from his palace to visit the meanest taverns and the different scenes of depravity that were to be found. He appeared on the stage, sometimes representing the meanest characters. He resolved to imitate the burning of Troy, and caused Rome to be set on fire in different places, the flames being unextinguished for nine days, and he enjoyed the terrible scene. During the conflagration he placed himself on the top of a tower and sang, accompanying himself on a lyre, of the destruction of Troy. Many conspiracies were formed against him, the most dangerous of which he was saved from by the confession of a slave. He killed himself, A. D. 68, in the thirty-second year of his age, after a reign of thirteen years and eight months. Wretch that he was, it is said that he had some few to mourn for him, and Suetonius records that some unseen hand had placed flowers on his tomb. This incident is alluded to by Lord Byron in these exquisite lines at the end of the third canto of Don Juan : "When Nero perish'd by the justest doom, Which ever the destroyer yet destroy'd, Amidst the roar of liberated Rome, Of nations freed, and the world overjoy'd, Some hands unseen strew'd flowers upon his tomb; Perhaps the weakness of a heart not void Of feeling for some kindness done when power Had left the wretch an uncorrupted hour." Nerva, M. Cocceius. A Roman emperor after the death of Domitian, A. D. 96. He rendered himself popular by his mildness and generosity. In his civil character he set an example of good manners and sobriety. He made an oath that no senator should suffer death during his reign, which he carried out by pardoning two members of the senate who had conspired against his life. He died in his seventy-second year, A. D. 98, and was succeeded by his son Trajan.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ne'rus, in Greek mythology, a god of the sea, father of the Nereids. He is represented as an aged man bearing a scepter and crowned with sedge. Nero (37-68 A. D.), one of the emperors of Rome. He succeeded Claudius in 54 A. D. He was well educated for his time, one of his instructors being no less than the philosopher Seneca. He ruled at first with moderation, but soon broke over all restraint. In 64 B. C. the "Great Fire" laid waste a good half of Rome. The flames surged through the crowded streets for six days and nights. A rumor got abroad that Nero ordered the fire set to clear the way for a new city. The suspicion has taken root in a popular saying that "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." Nero took the greatest pains to avert suspicion. He laid the blame on the new sect of Christians and ordered one of the cruelest persecutions ever known. Victims were even dipped in pitch, it is said, and allowed to burn at night like torches for the delight of the populace. There is no need to suspect any one of incendiarism, however, to account for a destructive fire in a great city flimsily built and wholly without fire-protection. Nero did make good use of the opportunity afforded to rebuild the city. He proceeded promptly to lay out broad streets where a maze of crooked lanes had been, and to erect imposing buildings where hovels had stood. Among other public buildings was the Golden Palace for his own use. He amassed wealth by putting rich people to death and confiscating their property. Even his old teacher, Seneca, was ordered to commit suicide, his crime being the possession of coveted wealth. Nero's conduct was so notorious that the legions revolted. The Senate ordered him scourged to death. To avoid arrest he took his own life.