Are the Rhoynar supposed to be Carthage?

[James Steller]

I mean purely because of their conflict with the Valyrians. It really seems like the Rhoynar are meant to be the Carthaginians. A series of wars which wear them down, the obviously superior enemy with technological advances over them, a prince nearly turning the tide by winning great victories, only to be utterly defeated in the end, the enemies attacking their land and salting the very earth and leaving the former cities in ruins... it all reminds me of the Punic Wars, with Valyria as Rome. Though everything after Nymeria and the ten thousand ships seems to be something else altogether.

[Lost Melnibonean]

I think that was Ghis. 

[Dorian Martell's son]

4 minutes ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

I think that was Ghis. 

Yes 

[Fire Eater]

1 hour ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

I think that was Ghis. 

Yes, the destruction of Old Ghis fit the description of Carthage's destruction with the city burned and the fields sowed with salt. The wars between Valyria and the overseas empire of Ghis also fit the Punic Wars. 

[Leo of House Cartel]

Interesting. If Ghis is Cathage then might the Rhoynar be partly based off of Egyptians who's lives revolved around the River Nile?

[Rufus Snow]

There are some parallels, but GRRM never matches anything one-for-one. I think the Rhoynar are closer to the continental Celts, though. They live in a series of independent cities/settlements sharing a common culture but having distinct political establishments. They have common cause against a common foe, but found it difficult - not impossible, but difficult - to unify against that foe. There is the affinity for water  (Halstatt was a waterside settlement, for example), and the most distinctive parallel is that women have equal status to men and can become national/tribal leaders in their own right (eg Nymeria). Ultimately they are displaced by a powerful empire to which they have no intention of surrendering, and are driven westwards to the fringes of the known world where they persist, intermarrying into the extant population but still maintaining strong cultural elements. Like the Celts the Rhoynar were also skilled metallurgists and were amongst the very first to use iron.

[Crona]

Not a big history fan, but maybe they are similar to Moors? I found this about Dorne and the Rhoynish influence from a so spake GRRM...

Quote

FEBRUARY 29, 2000

HISTORICAL INFLUENCES FOR DORNE

I read a lot of history, and mine it for good stuff, but I also like to mix and match. That is to say, I don't do straight one-for-one transplants, as some authors do, so you can't really say that X in Westeros equals Y in real life. More often X in Westeros equals Y and Z in real life, with squidges of Q, L, and A.

In the case of Dorne, yes, Wales was definitely an influence, for all the reasons you cite. But there's also some distinctly unWelsh elements down there. South of the wall of mountains you have a hot, dry country more like Spain or Palestine than the cool green valleys of Wales, with most of the settlements along the seacoast and in few great river basins. And you also have the flavor given the culture by the great Rhoynar influx led by Nymeria. I suppose the closest real life equivilent to that would be the Moorish influence in parts of Spain. So you could say Dorne is Wales mixed with Spain and Palestine with some entirely imaginary influences mixed in. Or you could just say it's Dorne....