Romulus Augustulus
Romulus Augustulus was the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, reigning for less than a year before being deposed in 476 AD. His very name encapsulated the empire's decline: Romulus echoed the legendary founder of Rome, while Augustulus — "little Augustus" — was a diminutive mockery of the once-supreme title of Augustus, reflecting how diminished imperial power had become. Placed on the throne by his father Orestes, a Roman general of barbarian origin, Romulus was barely a teenager when he became emperor. His reign lasted only from October 475 to August 476, during which real power resided entirely with Orestes. When the Germanic foederati under Odoacer revolted and killed Orestes, the young emperor was spared — his youth and the pitiful irony of his name perhaps evoking mercy. Odoacer exiled Romulus to Castellum Lucullanum in Campania rather than executing him, granting him a modest pension. The deposition of Romulus Augustulus is conventionally marked as the fall of the Western Roman Empire, though contemporaries did not necessarily view it as an epoch-ending event. He appears to have lived quietly into the early sixth century, the last vestige of a vanished imperial line.
- Lived: 461 CE – 508 CE
- Nationality: italian
- Roles: leader
