Kingdom of Italy (476–493)
| Flavius Odoacer | |
|---|---|
| King | |
Coin of Odoacer, Ravenna, 477, with Odoacer in profile, depicted with a "barbarian" moustache and an elongated skull
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| Reign | 476–493 |
| Predecessor | None (Title created after abolition of Western Roman Empire) |
| Successor | Theoderic the Great |
| Born |
c. 433 Pannonia, Western Roman Empire |
| Died | 15 March 493 (age 60) Ravenna, Kingdom of Italy |
| Father | Edeko |
| Religion | Arianism |
| Kingdom of Italy | ||||||||||
| Regnum Italicum | ||||||||||
| Vassal state of the Eastern Roman Empire | ||||||||||
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 The Kingdom of Italy (Odoacer) in 480 AD.
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| Capital | Ravenna | |||||||||
| Languages |
Latin Vulgar Latin Gothic |
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| Religion |
Arianism Chalcedonian Christianity |
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| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| Rex | ||||||||||
| • | 476–493 AD | Odoacer | ||||||||
| Legislature | Senate | |||||||||
| Historical era | Late Antiquity | |||||||||
| • | Battle of Ravenna | 2 September 476 | ||||||||
| • | Romulus Augustus abdicates | 4 September 476 | ||||||||
| • | Theodoric the Great assassinates Odoacer | 2 February 493 | ||||||||
| Currency | Solidus | |||||||||
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| Today part of | ||||||||||
Flavius Odoacer (c. 433 – 493 AD), also known as Flavius Odovacer or Odovacar (Italian: Odoacre, Latin: Odoacer, Odoacar, Odovacar, Odovacris), was a soldier who in 476 became the first King of Italy (476–493). His reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented himself as the client of the Emperor in Constantinople. Odoacer generally used the Roman honorific patrician, granted by the Emperor Zeno, but is referred to as a king (Latin: rex) in many documents and he himself used it in the only surviving official document emanated from his chancery; also it was used by the consul Basilius. Odoacer introduced few important changes into the administrative system of Italy. He had the support of the Roman Senate and was able to distribute land to his followers without much opposition. Unrest among his warriors led to violence in 477–478, but no such disturbances occurred during the later period of his reign. Although Odoacer was an Arian Christian, he rarely intervened in the affairs of the orthodox and trinitarian state church of the Roman Empire.
Probably of Scirian descent, Odoacer was a military leader in Italy who led the revolt of Herulian, Rugian, and Scirian soldiers that deposed Romulus Augustulus on 4 September AD 476. Augustulus had been declared Western Roman Emperor by his father, the rebellious general of the army in Italy, less than a year before, but had been unable to gain allegiance or recognition beyond central Italy. With the backing of the Roman Senate, Odoacer thenceforth ruled Italy autonomously, paying lip service to the authority of Julius Nepos, the last Western emperor, and Zeno, the emperor of the East. Upon Nepos's murder in 480 Odoacer invaded Dalmatia, to punish the murderers. He did so, executing the conspirators, but within two years also conquered the region and incorporated it into his domain.
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