The Last Western Roman Emperor,In the history books Romulus Augustulus is generally considered the l

The Last Western Roman Emperor,In the history books Romulus Augustulus is generally considered the last Western Roman Emperor. At the time, Rome wasn’t really an empire, consisting of little more than Italy, and some provinces in Northern France and North Africa which the imperial government had little contact with. Nor was the Roman Emperor really an emperor. In reality, the empire was ruled behind the scenes by Germanic kings and warlords, the emperor merely serving as a puppet.  Little is actually known about Romulus Augustulus, being named after Romulus, the founder of Rome, with “Augustulus” meaning “Little Augustus”. Rather, the story of his short reign centers more on his father, a Pannonian man named Orestes. Orestes was magister militum (supreme military commander) under the Emperor Julius Nepos, but he had much bigger dreams for himself and Rome.  His primary goal was to restore Rome and rebuild the Roman Empire, and to do so he needed to do away with the current puppet emperor, Julius Nepos. Enlisting the help of Germanic mercenaries, Orestes overthrew Julius Nepos on October 31st, 475. While Nepos fled in exile, Orestes formed a new government based in Ravenna (then the de facto capital of the empire), installing his 14 year old son as emperor. The Eastern Roman emperor, Zeno, refused to recognize the reign of Augustulus. However, with the Eastern Roman Empire was occupied with a civil war.The reign of Romulus Augustulus and Orestes was short lived. Orestes had promised the Germanic mercenaries he had hired 1/3rd of Italian land for their help in overthrowing Nepos. When the mercenaries tried to collect on their bill, Orestes refused.  Angered by Orestes broken promises, the Germans revolted, declaring one of their chieftains, a man named Odoacer, as their king. Orestes gathered what Roman troops he could, but his army was decisively crushed by the Germans, and he was executed on August 28th, 476. On the 4th of September, Odoacer’s army marched into Ravenna, and Romulus Augustulus willing abdicated his throne. His reign only lasted ten months.Romulus Augustulus was not executed by Odoacer. Instead he was allowed to live and granted a state pension, supposedly living the rest of his life in Naples. Odoacer would not immediately declare himself King of Italy. Instead, he officially recognized Julius Nepos as Roman Emperor, Nepos at the time ruling over a small rump state in Dalmatia (now located in the Balkans). However, Odoacer refused to allow Nepos to return to Italy, and his recognition of Nepos was little more than lip service. Everyone knew that the Roman Empire was dead, and that Odoacer was now in charge. Nepos was assassinated in 480 AD, resulting in Odoacer invading Dalmatia and absorbing it into his realm.  Odoacer then declared himself King of Italy. The Eastern Roman Empire, still reeling from civil war, had little power to do anything about it. Thus in 480, the Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno declared the Western Roman Empire officially dissolved.  -- source link

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