476 CEReputable sourceWell documented
The Fall of Rome
On the timeline · around 476 CE ·
What happened
In 476 the Germanic commander Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, and sent the imperial insignia to the emperor in Constantinople. Much of the west had already slipped from Roman control; the event is taken as the symbolic end of the ancient world in Europe.
Why it matters
The collapse of Roman authority in the west opened the medieval era, as kingdoms of Franks, Goths, and others rose on the ruins of empire while the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire lived on.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Fall of the Western Roman Empire · Reputable source
Related timelines
- Ancient Rome → — The empire whose fall it marks