Board Thread:General Mod Discussion/@comment-90.193.49.123-20160124184731/@comment-27723099-20160125164824

Yes, afaik Tolkien himself said Gondor is based on the Byzantium Empire, the successor of the Eastern Roman Empire. But the predecessor of Gondor was Numenor, which is based on the British Empire, according to Tolkien.

Dale/Esgaroth has too northern culture, but Dorwinion could be Rome-like. But Dorwinion never was powerful enough to be an Empire, and most of the time it was a vassal or province of either Gondor or Rhûn.