Romulus Augustulus (460-) was the disputed Western Roman emperor from 31 October 475 to 4 September 476 AD, interrupting Julius Nepos' reigns. His deposition by the Heruli general Odoacer traditionally marked the end of the Western Roman Empire due to Odoacer's ensuing annexation of Italy.
Biography[]
Romulus was born in 460, the son of the Roman Army officer Flavius Orestes. His father was appointed magister militum by Emperor Julius Nepos in 475, only to betray Nepos and capture Ravenna on 28 August of that year. Nepos fled to Dalmatia, which he ruled as a semi-autonomous state, and Orestes had his son Romulus crowned "Augustus" of the Western Roman Empire. Romulus was a proxy for his father, and he was derisively referred to as "Augustulus", meaning "little Augustus", due to his young age and his lack of power. In 476, after Orestes refused to give Odoacer's foederati a third of Italy in recompense for their services, Odoacer rebelled and captured Ravenna, executing Orestes. Romulus Augustulus was forced to abdicate, and he was sent to live with relatives in Campania, where Odoacer, taking pity on his youth, gave him an annual pension of 6,000 solidi.