Last Roman Emperor Is Deposed
The deposition of Romulus Augustulus marks a significant turning point in history, as he was the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire. On September 4, 476, he was overthrown by Odoacer, a German mercenary general who subsequently declared himself king of Italy. This event symbolized the end of a once-mighty empire that had been in decline for decades, primarily due to internal strife and invasions by Germanic tribes. By the fifth century, the Western Roman Empire had largely fragmented, with various barbarian groups occupying former territories. Romulus Augustulus ascended to the throne as a teenager in 475, but his reign was undermined by his father, Orestes, who had usurped power and failed to deliver promised land to the Germanic soldiers, leading to Odoacer's coup. After his abdication, Romulus was exiled but received a pension, living until the early sixth century. Although the Eastern Roman Empire, later known as the Byzantine Empire, continued to exist until 1453, the fall of Romulus Augustulus is traditionally viewed as the definitive end of Roman rule in the West. This historical moment paved the way for the fragmentation of Italy into smaller principalities, reshaping the political landscape of Europe.
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Last Roman Emperor Is Deposed
Last Roman Emperor Is Deposed
Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed on September 4, 476, by a German mercenary general named Odoacer, who proclaimed himself king of Italy. The Eastern Roman Empire at Constantinople survived, although it became known as the Byzantine Empire not long thereafter, and lasted until 1453. Despite some military successes under the Emperor Justinian, the Byzantines were never able to successfully reconquer Italy or Rome for any significant period of time, and so the end of the truly Roman part of the Roman Empire is traditionally said to have occurred in 476.
By the fifth century a.d. the Western Roman Empire was in a state of disarray. It had mostly been overrun by Germanic barbarians who settled in England, France, Spain, and North Africa, formerly Roman provinces. Some of these peoples paid nominal homage to Rome, but real power rested with their native kings and chieftains. Rome itself had long since come to depend on Germanic mercenaries for its army, and they
were unreliable at best. One such general was Orestes, who had served with Attila the Hun before entering into the service of the Romans. He rose quickly in rank and became “master of soldiers” under the emperor Julius Nepos. Orestes turned on Nepos, however, leading his fellow German warriors in a coup d'etat with promises of land grants as a reward for their support. Nepos fled and Orestes put his son, born to a Roman wife and therefore presumably more acceptable to the Roman people, on the throne.
The new emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was crowned on October 31, 475. His name was an ironic choice for the last emperor of Rome: Romulus was the first king of Rome, and Augustus was its first emperor. The diminutive form Augustulus was typically used instead of Augustus, however, because the new emperor was probably born sometime around the year 461 and was therefore only a teenager at the time that he was crowned. Real power was held by his father Orestes, who failed to keep his promise to give land to the German soldiers and thus prompted another coup d'etat. This time it was led by one of Orestes's leading commanders, Odoacer (also spelled Odovacar). Orestes took refuge in what is now the modern city of Pavia, which fell after a siege, and he was executed in August 476. Odoacer then forced Romulus Augustulus to abdicate, but rather than kill the boy emperor, he sent the youth into exile near the modern city of Naples with a substantial annual pension. Romulus Augustulus lived there until the early sixth century, although the exact date of his death is uncertain.
Odoacer proclaimed himself king of Italy rather than taking the title of Roman emperor, marking the end of the Western Roman Empire, even though for all practical purposes it had already been defunct for years. His kingdom was short-lived, and Italy dissolved into a patchwork quilt of local principalities, with the papacy eventually taking control of Rome itself.