Fall of Rome - The End of the Roman Empire

From its early days as a monarchy, through the Republic and the Roman Empire, Rome lasted a millennium ... or two. Those who opt for two millennia date the Fall of Rome to 1453 when the Ottoman Turks took Byzantium. Those who opt for one millennium, agree with Roman historian Edward Gibbon. Edward Gibbon dated the Fall to September 4, A.D. 476 when a so-called barbarian named Odoacer (a Germanic leader in the Roman army), deposed the last western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, who was probably partly of Germanic ancestry. Odoacer considered Romulus so paltry a threat he didn't even bother to assassinate him, but sent him into retirement.*
At the time of the coup and for the two preceding centuries, there had been two emperors of Rome. One lived in the east, usually in Constantinople. The other lived in the west. The emperor whom Odoacer deposed had lived in Ravenna, Italy. Afterwards, there was still one Roman emperor, Zeno, who lived in Constantinople. Odoacer became the first barbarian king of the western empire.
While this bloodless coup in 476 is a frequently accepted date for the Fall of Rome and the beginning of the Middle Ages, it was not, at the time, a major turning point. Many events and tendencies led up to it and there were many people who continued to think of themselves and who continue to be thought of as Romans.
The following is a list of features on this site related to the end of the Roman Empire and the Fall of Rome. This includes theories about the Fall of Rome (including lead) and several of the Roman emperors whose actions hastened the end of the Roman Empire in the West. There is a section with information on important men whose origins were far from the city of Rome.
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