Odoacer (433-493) was a Heruli German foederati leader of the Western Roman Empire who reigned as King of Italy from 476 to 493, preceding Theoderic the Great. Odoacer deposed the young Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus after capturing Ravenna in 476, bringing about the fall of the Western Empire; he was nominally a vassal of the Eastern Roman Empire until 484, when he rebelled against Emperor Zeno of Byzantium. In 490, Zeno appointed the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great as the new Byzantine viceroy of Italy, and Theoderic besieged Odoacer in Ravenna for three years and killed him at a peace banquet.
Biography[]
Odoacer in battle
Odoacer was born in Pannonia to the Germanic Heruli tribe in 433, and he was a commander of foederati forces under the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century AD. In 476 AD, Odoacer and his foederati rose in rebellion against the usurper emperor Romulus Augustulus after he refused to compensate the foederati for their services. Odoacer proceeded to besiege Ravenna, after which he achieved the abdication of Romulus Augustulus, ending the Rome-dominated "Classical Antiquity" period.
After the overthrow of Augustus, Odoacer was recognized by the emperor of the Eastern Empire, Zeno. Odoacer made the mistake of supporting the rebellious Byzantine magister militum Illus in his plot to overthrow Zeno as well, leading to Zeno commissioning the Rugii of Austria to invade Italy in 484 AD. In 487, Odoacer proceeded to invade the Rugii homeland, defeating them on their own territory in 488. Zeno contacted king Theoderic of the Ostrogoths, offering him the title of Viceroy of Italy if he could conquer Odoacer's kingdom. Theoderic invaded in 489 and conquered almost the entire peninsula by August 490. He proceeded to besiege Odoacer in Ravenna for three years; Theoderic invited Odoacer to a peace banquet on 15 March 493, where Theoderic had him murdered.