Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman emperor
A Germanic general ends a line of emperors that had run since Augustus
Quick facts
- Location
- Ravenna, Italy
- Emperor deposed
- Romulus Augustulus, age 14
- Deposed by
- Odoacer, Herulian general
- Successor state
- Kingdom of Italy under Odoacer
What happened
Romulus Augustulus became Western Roman emperor at 14 after his father Orestes, the army's master of soldiers, drove out the previous emperor Julius Nepos in 475. Orestes had promised his mostly Germanic troops land in Italy and reneged, so they rallied behind the Herulian officer Odoacer, who executed Orestes on 28 August 476 and deposed Romulus a week later on 4 September. Odoacer spared the boy because of his age, gave him a pension, and sent him to live with relatives in Campania. The Roman Senate then sent the imperial insignia to Constantinople, telling Emperor Zeno that one emperor was enough and asking him to recognize Odoacer as ruler of Italy in his name.
Why it matters
No new Western emperor was ever crowned after Romulus, so this deposition became the conventional marker for the end of the Western Roman Empire, even though Roman law, the Senate, and Roman administrators kept functioning under Odoacer. Italy now had a Germanic king ruling in an emperor's name rather than an emperor at all, a template other post-Roman kingdoms would follow.
How we know
The event is recorded by multiple near-contemporary chroniclers, including the Anonymus Valesianus and the historian Jordanes, whose accounts agree on the sequence of Orestes's death and Romulus's deposition.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Justinian I · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- HISTORY. Last Western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, deposed · Reputable sourcehistory.com · The domain "history.com" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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