Seeking relatively well-known, canon-caliber fictional accounts of imaginary encounters between actual, historically significant figures -- especially encounters that could well have taken place, but which we know did not or remain undocumented. Philip Levine's poem "On the Meeting of Garcia Lorca and Hart Crane" typifies what I'm looking for. Mark Twain's _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_ does not (respectable evidence out there of a historical Arthur notwithstanding). The literary field is rife with examples, I know -- say, some novel casting Charles Lindbergh and Adolf Hitler into a tete-a-tete. But, ack, I'm drawing a blank. [more inside]
posted by taramosalata on Feb 5, 2009 - 31 answers

I'm trying to get my hands on a TV commercial from a few years ago for some financial or business company, with a vision of a modern Roman Empire. What I remember: Caesar steps out of an SPQR limousine, illuminated by flashbulbs and surrounded by black-suited, earpieced Praetorian guard, then an image of a Roman New York, with a statue of Caesar instead of Liberty. Any pointers on finding this commercial? Also, are there any fictional works that deal with the what-if subject of the Modern Roman Empire? Thanks!
posted by nervestaple on Jan 6, 2007 - 11 answers

The magnetic field of the earth isn't that strong, right? So what would it take to replace it? [more inside]
posted by Tzarius on Jan 4, 2007 - 12 answers

What would it entail to produce a MMORPG in the western genre with subtle steampunk and/or horror undertones ? [more inside]
posted by ZachsMind on Aug 9, 2006 - 17 answers

What will happen to cities if a pandemic occurs? [more inside]
posted by stokast on Jan 30, 2006 - 23 answers

What if most people were born blind, and seeing was rare? [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on May 27, 2005 - 43 answers

Terrorists destroy the sun.... How long does humanity survive??? (the inside... there's more???) [more inside]
posted by John Kenneth Fisher on Dec 22, 2004 - 32 answers

What would happen if, the day after the election, the president AND the vice-president elect were killed? [More presidential succession questions and info inside] [more inside]
posted by junkbox on Jul 29, 2004 - 14 answers

If humans were marsupials, would pouches be erotic?
posted by Grod on Jun 21, 2004 - 21 answers