I went for war/military themed stuff (Junta/Junta Clown/Belisarius Redux). Not very original, but I've been doing it for years. You can always dig up some ancient general that no one has ever heard of. I have a particular fondness for Belisarius. He was offered rulership of Rome and turned it down, using the offer to get them to open the gates of Rome so he could conquer it instead (and what does that say about my play style?
). It's rumored his reward was to be blinded, have his lands seized and was turned into a beggar...All by the Eastern Roman Emperor who feared him after the incident. I would have to look up the numbers, but I believe the Eastern Roman Empire increased by ~45% in terms of land during his era. There are plenty of other interesting ones out there besides him...
Edit: There are a couple of very famous paintings around this incident. If you look at my profile those two pictures are of Belisarius begging. The soldier is supposed to be one of his former soldiers being horrified at recognizing his general. Quite a cool piece of art...
