Romulus Augustulus
Romulus Augustulus
462 — ?
Empire romain d'Occident
Last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus reigned in 475–476 AD, placed on the throne by his father Orestes. Deposed at around age 15 by the Germanic chieftain Odoacer, his abdication marks the conventional end of the Western Roman Empire.
Key Facts
- Proclaimed Emperor of the West on October 31, 475 by his father Orestes, a general of the Roman army
- His nickname 'Augustulus' ('little Augustus') underscores the irony of his role as a mere figurehead
- Deposed on September 4, 476 by Odoacer, chieftain of the Heruli, who refused to name a successor
- Exiled to Campania (Castellum Lucullanum) rather than executed, and even granted a pension
- 476 is recognized by historians as the symbolic date for the fall of the Western Roman Empire
Works & Achievements
A landmark act in world history: by handing over his insignia to Odoacer, Romulus Augustulus symbolically brought the Western Roman Empire to an end. This event is recognized by historians as the closing of Antiquity and the opening of the Middle Ages.
Rare solidi and siliquae struck during his ten-month reign, now held in several European museums. They are the only direct material evidence of this fleeting reign, and are prized by scholars of late Roman numismatics.
Cassiodorus, secretary to Theodoric, mentions in his official correspondence a 'Romulus' at the Castellum Lucullanum receiving a pension. These texts prove that the former emperor survived at least thirty years after his deposition — a fact that is often overlooked.
Anecdotes
Romulus Augustulus bears, with a tragic irony of History, the names of both the legendary founder of Rome (Romulus) and its first emperor (Augustus). The last ruler of a thousand-year empire, he embodies in a single person the alpha and omega of Roman civilization — from its founding myth to its final fall.
His father Orestes had been the personal secretary of Attila, the fearsome Hunnic warlord. After the death of the 'Scourge of God', he changed sides, entered Roman service, rose through the ranks to become a general, then overthrew Emperor Julius Nepos to place his own 14-year-old son on the throne.
When the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposed Romulus in September 476, he was struck by the boy emperor's youth. Rather than execute him, he spared his life and sent him into comfortable exile at the Castellum Lucullanum, a magnificent fortress overlooking the Bay of Naples, with an annual pension of 6,000 gold solidi.
The reign of Romulus Augustulus lasted only ten months, from October 475 to September 476. It was so brief and his authority so hollow — his father Orestes held the real power — that Constantinople refused to recognize him officially. Technically, Julius Nepos, in exile in Dalmatia, remained the only legitimate emperor in the eyes of the East.
Odoacer sent back to Constantinople the imperial insignia of the West — the diadem, the purple cloak — declaring that the Empire no longer needed two emperors. This symbolic gesture officially sealed the end of the Western Roman Empire, the date historians use to mark the close of Antiquity.
Primary Sources
Odoacer rex Gothorum Romam obtinuit. Orestem vero Placentiae interfecit. Romulum autem, cui a parvitate Augustulus inditum est cognomentum, regno privatum in Lucullano Campaniae castello exsilii poena damnavit.
A letter attesting that a certain Romulus was still residing at the Castellum Lucullanum around 507–511, receiving a pension from the Ostrogothic kings who succeeded Odoacer — proof that the former emperor survived for several decades.
The Romans had been accustomed to electing a king from among the barbarian nations present in Italy, and handing him all the imperial insignia that the western emperor had customarily worn.
Romulum, qui et Augustulus dictus est, regno privavit et Lucullanum Campaniae castrum exilio deportavit.
Key Places
Capital of the Western Roman Empire since 402, Ravenna was the seat of Romulus Augustulus's reign and the site of his forced abdication on September 4, 476. Protected by its surrounding marshes, the city was chosen for how easily it could be defended against invasion.
A fortress built on the ruins of Lucullus's villa overlooking the Bay of Naples, this was the gilded place of exile where Romulus was sent after his deposition. He lived there for many years, still receiving a pension under the Ostrogothic rule of Theodoric.
The symbolic birthplace of the Empire, Rome had not been the political capital for a century, yet it remained the spiritual heart of the Roman world. Its repeated sackings in the 5th century had foreshadowed the final collapse, of which Romulus Augustulus was the last crowned witness.
Capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople refused to recognize Romulus Augustulus as a legitimate emperor. It was to its ruler Zeno that Odoacer sent the imperial regalia in 476, asking to be recognized as administrator of Italy.
A city in the Po Valley where Orestes, father of Romulus Augustulus, was captured and executed by Odoacer's troops in August 476. His death left Romulus without his only protector and hastened the abdication just a few weeks later.