Hodor's Heroes

That's exactly what I thought of first too when I read the Martin passage and I'm sure it's where he got the idea. Crassus died during the fighting against the Parthians. One ancient historian (Cassius Dio) notes a story that the Parthians poured gold down his throat after he had already died. He wasn't killed that way though. Sorry, I'm a classics nerd so had to be nitpicky...