The Emperors of Rome and the Kings of Westeros

[I'm Murrin]

I was reading up a little on the lives of the Roman emperors yesterday, when I realised that events in Martin's books have been based on some of their lives. It struck me when I read of the death of Caligula:
The emperor was cut down by some of his own men, while at the same time other formerly loyal men killed his wife and infant daughter, the latter by dashing her head against a wall.
The connection seems obvious: Aerys II Targaryen, after falling further and further into distaste among his people, was eventually cut down by his guard. Other supposedly loyal men, those in Tywin's service, murdered Rhaegar's wfie and children, the youngest of whom was killed by having his head dashed against a wall.

It goes on.

Caligula was succeeded by his uncle, Claudius. The most commonly cited cause of Claudius' death was poisoning, instigated by his wife Agrippina so that her son could become Emperor before Claudius' own son grew older. And in ASoIaF we have Robert, not poisoned but given drink to get him killed in a hunt on the encouragement of his wife Cersei, so that her son Joffrey would be king. We can perhaps collude that one with the death of Joffrey, who was poisoned, because Tommen fits the next role better. (Note that Claudius' son, Nero's step-brother, was apparently poisoned soon after Claudius' death.)


Nero, Claudius' stepson and successor, was the youngest emperor so far, and there was apparently much strugle between his mother and his advisors for influence over him in the early years of his reign--struggles which ended with the murder of his mother.
Tommen is very young to be king, his mother has so far had much influence over him, but the men are fighting to exclude her. Could we perhaps have a clue here as to where this story is going?


Another interesting point it Nero's wife Octavia, who was falsely accused of adultery and banished; her maids were tortured to death; the people liked her so much that they protested in the streets. This sounds to me a little like Margaery, although in this case it is the mother and not the son who has had the queen accused.


The way that Martin has taken this history and woven it into his own story is interesting, no?