Other than being post industrial, how different is say, the slave society of the antebellum South vs that of the Roman Empire?

Good question. The most obvious difference is that the antebellum South practiced racialized slavery, whereas the Roman Empire would enslave barbarians and Romans alike, and saw slavery as more of an economic status which one could enter or leave rather than a permanent identity. 

Next and relatedly, I would say that the two systems treated manumission and freedmen very differently. Clientalism – the practice whereby wealthy patrons provided goods, opportunity, and access to their clients in exchange for the votes and other services of their clients – was a foundational element of Roman politics and society. Upon gaining their freedom, manumitted slaves automatically became clients of their former masters, so elites saw manumission as a way to promote their political careers while still maintaining a good deal of influence. 

By contrast, manumission was pretty quickly seen as a threat to the operation of the Southern system. When the whole system is premised on the idea of white = free, black = slave, a population of free blacks not only posed a major ideological problem (it interferes with the whole mudsill theory, it raises difficult legal questions about the status and rights of freedmen, and it introduces the idea that slaves are actually people), but also potentially could be a fifth column within Southern society operating against slavery. It’s not an accident, therefore, that after each major rebellion in the South – Bacon’s Rebellion, Denmark Vesey’s Rebellion, Nat Turner’s Rebellion – that laws were passed restricting manumission and/or restricting the rights of freedmen. 

I’ve read some, although it can be hard to find. The Gentleman Bastards series is clever and a lot of fun.  The Heirs of Alexandria series is ok, but I felt like characterization was starting to slip into too presentist for my tastes. Tim Powers’ Drawing of the Dark is quite good if you can put up wth his particular idiosyncracies. The Age of Unreason series was entertaining for a while, but I got bored after the first couple of books.  Dan Abnett’s Triumff is a laugh, but not to be taken seriously. And some of the better Warhammer Fantasy novels are worthwhile – I’m a fan of CL Werner and Dan Abnett’s stuff. 

There’s lots of real-world examples of religious orders with a vow of silence. 

Well, they’re “pacifist” in the same way that medieval Catholic priests using maces to avoid spilling blood were “pacifist.”

I think this is a better question for @warsofasoiaf.

Glad you liked the CBCs.

Maybe, maybe not. Keep in mind, my theory is that Daemon was planning to replace the Great Houses with his supporters, so you’d still have the institution there, just different occupants of the offices:

“the Reynes as the Lords Paramount of the West, the Yronwoods as the Lords Paramount of Dorne, either the Freys or the Lothstons as the Lords Paramount of the Riverlands, possibly the Hightowers or Oakhearts or Peakes as Lords Paramount of the Reach.”

Whether that would have led to more local conflicts than Daeron’s punishments of the Blackfyre supporters, I think it’s hard to say. 

It pisses me off, certainly. As scholars like Gary Gallagher and Bruce Chadwick have pointed out, Gone With the Wind played a non-trivial role in keeping the Lost Cause part of the mainstream discourse – you’ve got the whole Moonlight and Magnolia/Land of Chivalry thing, the movie uses the South Was Doomed variant (think Brett’s speech about Northern industrial might), there’s the loyal slaves vs. the evil carpetbaggers, etc. etc. 

The most logical explanation would be that Sumner Crakehall was part of Tywin’s retinue at the Red Keep, or was in the capitol for a tourney, or something like that. 

Think Beric Dondarrion in AGOT.

That’s a really interesting question. I don’t know if Aeron would call for the kingsmoot – in the books, he does so in a very confused political situation where Theon is MIA and presumed KIA, Asha is Balon’s preferred heir, but he prefers Victarion, and where Aeron is trying to ward off Euron who claimed the Seastone Chair by force. 

But regardless, I don’t think Robert would tolerate it, not with Theon still alive and a ward of his bestie Ned Stark. So if Aeron proceeded, there would probably be a ceremony for Theon on the mainland and then things would kick off.