Romulus Augustulus
Romulus Augustulus, or in Latin Flavius Romulus Augustus (circa 460 - possibly 511), sometimes called Romulus Augustulus, was the last Western Roman Emperor.
Born Flavius Romulus, his father was Flavius Orestes, a Roman politician believed to be likely descended from a Germanic tribe. Orestes was named "Master of Soldiers" by the Western Emperor Julius Nepos in 475. On August 28, 475, a coup led by Orestes enabled him to seize power in Ravenna (which since 402 had been the capital of the Western Roman Empire). Julius Nepos must flee to Dalmatia. He will continue until his death, in 480, to wear the crown there, titular emperor of the West; he is the last emperor recognized by the Eastern Roman Empire, and is therefore in theory the last legally speaking emperor of the western part.
Orestes became de facto master of what remained of the Western Roman Empire, with the exception of course of Dalmatia. Either he was not considered eligible for the throne, or he did not wish to add his name to the list of emperors in the short reign of the last years, or he used the lessons of the previous years and preferred keep control of the army, and, through his son, politically control the Empire, he proclaimed his son emperor in any event, on October 31 of the year 475. This accession to the Empire was not recognized by his "rival", the Eastern Roman Emperor, Zeno I.
Flavius Romulus was a child or a very young teenager at the time of his elevation to the Empire, and he was only a puppet in the hands of his father Orestes. Shortly after this seizure of power, Orestes refused to give land for the settlement of the Heruli, Skires and Torcilingi, a decision which engendered their revolt under the command of the chief of the Heruli, Odoacer. Orestes was captured in Pavia on August 28, 476 and was then promptly executed.
Odoacer then advanced on Ravenna, and captured the city with the young emperor. Romulus was forced to abdicate on September 4, 476. Odoacer, in agreement with the Roman Senate, then sent the imperial regalia and his submission to the Eastern Roman Emperor, Zeno I, who accepted them and bestowed upon him the title in return. of king of Italy. This act is now considered the end of the Western Roman Empire even if legally the western part is reunited with the eastern part by the submission of Odoacer. In fact, it is indeed the end of the Roman Empire in the West; the Eastern Roman Empire, soon called Byzantine Empire will continue until 1453.
For the inhabitants of Italy at the end of the 5th century, the change of power was not very shocking. The sack of Rome by Alaric I in 410 was much more so, for example. Roman power had long since passed in reality to the barbarian officers and their mercenary contingents. Far more devastating was the reconquest of Italy by Justinian I.
Romulus Augustus is often known by the pejorative nickname "Romulus Augustulus", although he officially reigned as Romulus Augustus. The Latin suffix -ulus is a diminutive, and the term Augustulus means "little august", in the sense of unimportant. The nickname Augustus ("Augustus") was ill-suited to such a small child.
Unlike many of the abdications of these predecessors, that of Romulus Augustulus seems to have been beneficial to him. According to a legend, the youth of the prince allowed him to escape assassination by Odoacer, who showed pity and sent him, it seems, to Campania to live there in peace with his family. The same legend says that a pension was granted to him. We think from a missive concerning a certain Romulus and his mother that this pension was still paid by Theodoric the Great in 507 and even in 511. It does not seem that Romulus Augustulus saw the reconquest of Rome by the troops of Justinian.
His legitimacy as the last emperor of the West is regularly questioned. He was indeed never recognized as emperor by Zeno I, the Eastern Roman Emperor, who continued to recognize Julius Nepos as legitimate emperor until his death in 480. But despite everything, most of the time, it is good Romulus Augustulus who is considered the last Roman emperor in the West.
History, by an irony of which it has the secret, brought together the two most important characters in Roman history in this young boy:the vanity of his father Orestes had baptized his son Romulus, like Romulus, the founder of the 'Urbs, and his accession to the throne gave him the cognomen of Augustus, a nickname Octavian had received after becoming the first Roman emperor.
We see another irony when we compare the end of the last two emperors of the East and the West:Romulus Augustulus ends up in anonymity while Constantine XI ends his reign heroically.