Andals - Anglos
- Invasion from across a narrow sea to the Westerlands / Britainnia
- Iron Age cultures
- Fought against the first men & COTF / Celts.
- The native religion of Westeros was replaced during the Andal conquest. Old Gods commonalities with Pagan religions, New Gods identify closer to Christianity.
- Brought written language to the Wester lands with their conquest.
- Hills of Andalos - Angles land & Saxony
The Seven - Catholic Trinity
- Multiple aspects of a single being... or whatever.
Middle oceans - The Summer Sea & the Mediterranean
- Located between three continental land masses, Westeros/Europe, Essos/Asia, Sothoryos/Africa.
- Bay of Slaves - geographical equivalent to Adriatic sea. The Valyrian penninsula is geographically consistent with the Italian peninsula with Ghiscar being geographically consistent with Greece.
Old Ghis - ancient Greeks
I've heard people say the people of Ghis are like the Persians or other Eastern cultures like Pontus, but they're definitely based on the Greeks.
- The relative locations of the two cultures mirrors our own... Both located on the shores of the Mediterranean/Summer sea in South-Central Essos/Southern Eurasia. (Valyrians/Romans to their west across the Bay of Slaves/Adriatic).
- The Romans borrowed culturally from the Greeks in their infancy. Valyrians did the same to the Ghiscari - adopting then innovating from their technologies.
- Slavery, essential to the Ghiscari, was also essential to some of the Greeks -- helot slaves outnumbered Spartan citizens 20:1 (which partially led to their downfall, of both Sparta and the Ghiscari).
- Both Ghis and the Greeks invented and heavily rely upon the phalanx shield wall.
- Yunkai, Mereen, and Astapor are Ghiscari city-states... such as were Athens, Sparta and Thebes.
- Deep bodied cogs used for transport throughout the Mediterranean/Summer Sea. Cogs are not suitable in rougher waters such as the Atlantic/Sunset sea or North sea/Shivering sea.
- While once the dominant culture of their region, both were superseded by their younger, more aggressive , neighbors to the west.
- (Just remember) Tokars = Togas
Valyrians were the Romans of Essos and Westeros
- The 14 fires - the 7 hills of Rome.
- Geographically consistent position between the Romans/Greeks vs the Valyrians/Ghiscari.
- Performed genocide against various tribes during their expansion, little trace of which is left today.
- Invaded the far wester lands (Westeros/Britannia) toward the end of their centuries of dominating the continent.
- The repeated, large wars with *Ghis, mirror the Rome's Punic wars against Carthage... The final destruction of Old Ghis especially draws upon Rome's utter destruction of Carthage.
- Doom of Valyria is a souped-up civilization ending version of Vesuvius vs Pompei and Herculaneum.
- Following the destruction of Valyria, there was a violent period of war known as the century of blood -- equivalent to the post-Roman dark ages.
- The Valyrian language fractured into the highly related by distinguishable languages spoken in Bravos, Pentos, Lys, etc. Latin fractured into the Romance languages: Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Romanian.
With all the glowing similarities, I'm half surprised there's no parallel of proto-Valyrian/proto-Romans, Latin wars against the neighboring Samnites, honing and codifying the budding civilization militarily... and setting it up for further conquest. (Old Ghis fills that role though). -- I still haven't thought of a good Roman equivalent to Dragons.
Aegon IV (the Unworthy) - King Henry VIII
- Post-Valyria/post-Roman King of the westerlands
- Athletic and well-made in their youth. Physical decline and corpulence with the gluttonous lifestyle of a king.
- Henry married six times with various mistresses (various progeny) - Aegon had six noble mistresses (& various progeny) and nine (known) overall.
- Swollen and obese, Aegon could not raise himself from his bed, limbs rotting and crawling with grave worms. - Henry suffered a jousting accident leg wound that doctors could not heal. It ulcerated and festered for years, causing physical inactivity and his degraded physical state and death.
- Both suffered from the Diabetus.
Dothraki horse-lords are the Essos equivalent to the Mongols + the Hun.
- Steppe grassland, horse based nomadic culture on the world's largest landmass, Essos/Asia.
- Brown skin and almond shaped eyes.
- Warlord culture - Kahl = Kahn.
- Domesticator of horses.
- Fight on horseback using light lances and bows. Prolific with a bow.
- Lack siege equipment to take large cities, but are formidable in the open field... due to their high mobility.
- Large wealthy cities (with strong walls) such as Qarth/Constantinople buy off the Dothraki/Hun/Mongols rather than face them in battle. PS, Quarth and its high walls is the geographical analog to Constantinople.
Dorne is basically the Spain of Westeros (with a bit of Morocco thrown in)
Geographically, culturally, culinarily, the people in it, etc... it just matches.
The free cities of Essos can be likened to the independent city-states of Italy during the high middle ages.
- Some of the wealthiest, most populous, and most powerful cities of their age.
- Ruled by wealthy princes.
- Bravos is especially likened to Venice, city of canals.
- The free cities 'mother civilization' was Valyria while the Italian city states mother civilization was the Roman empire.
- The Valyrian language fractured into the highly related but distinguishable languages spoken in Bravos, Pentos, Lys, etc. Latin fractured into the Romance languages: Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Romanian.
Extras: Game of Thrones is loosely based on the War of the Roses, battle for supremacy between house Lancaster/Lannister and York/Stark.
--The wall was inspired by Hadrian's Wall.
--Valyrian steel has a similar appearance and some of the attributed qualities of Damascus steel.
--Greek fire is Wild fire.
--Greyjoys are caricatures of Viking raiders, (the view of the Vikings as seen from those they targeted)
- Seafarers, pillaging, thralls, long-ships, etc.
--Red wedding was inspired by the Black Dinner of 1440.