Timeline Friday 4 September 476

Events on Friday 4 September 476 3

• 476 Fall of the Western Empire -- Byzantium alone On 4 September 476, the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus, the last Western emperor, at Ravenna. He sends the imperial regalia to Constantinople, declaring there is no need for a separate western emperor. From the Byzantine perspective, the empire is not divided -- there is simply one emperor now, in Constantinople. Byzantium considers itself the legitimate continuation of the Roman Empire throughout its history and never accepts the 'fall of Rome' framing that Western historians later adopt.
• 476 Fall of the Western Roman Empire On 4 September 476 AD, the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus — the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire — at Ravenna. Romulus is a teenager, and his very name — combining the founder of Rome with the founder of the empire — gives the moment a bitter symmetry. Odoacer sends the imperial regalia to Constantinople, declaring there is no need for a separate western emperor. Edward Gibbon will later mark this date as the end of ancient history. The Eastern Empire — Byzantium — continues for another 977 years.
• 476 Fall of the Western Roman Empire Odoacer Deposes Romulus Augustulus The traditional date for the end of the Western Roman Empire when the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposed the last emperor.