For Valyria this was the Andal/Rhoynar kingdoms, for Rome this was the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the east. Stage 4a: Rome/Valyria face the last remnants of organized opposition. That’s the kingdoms of the Rhoynar in blue, by the way. Huge new swaths of territory bring vast quantities of material goods and slaves. Stage 3: Rome/Valyria territorial expansion explodes in the downfall of their main opponent. They did a number of the capital city of Old Ghis, though. Rome would go on to wipe Carthage from the face of the Earth, while Valyria allowed some of the cities of Slaver’s Bay to persist. What’s more, the Roman’s didn’t even have dragons on their side, which must have made Carthage’s defeat particularly embarrassing. The wars between Rome and Carthage were known as the Punic Wars, and they sucked for Carthage.
For Valyria this was a series of five wars against the Empire of Ghis, for Rome this was a series of three wars against Carthage. Stage 2: Rome/Valyria break onto the world stage by knocking out the previous top dog. The Carthaginian Empire didn’t predate the Roman Empire by that long, but the comparison is still there. The remnants of Ghis can be seen still today in the cities of Slaver’s Bay, and its emblem was the great harpy like the one Daenerys tore down off the pyramid in season 5.
In purple, we see the Old Empire of Ghis, whose origins predate Valyria by some thousands of years. Like the Roman Empire, the Valyria Empire originated upon a peninsula. Here, the Valyrian Empire is shown in red. Stage 1: Rome/Valyria are small regional players in the shadows of surrounding giants.