Emperor Nepos Flees: Orestes Seizes Western Rome
The Roman general Orestes, himself of Germanic origin, marched on Ravenna on August 28, 475 AD, forcing Western Emperor Julius Nepos to flee across the Adriatic to Dalmatia. Orestes then placed his teenage son Romulus on the imperial throne, a boy so young that contemporaries mockingly added the diminutive "Augustulus" (little Augustus) to his name. Orestes refused to give the Germanic troops one-third of Italy's land as they demanded. Within a year, the soldiers mutinied under Odoacer, killed Orestes, and deposed Romulus on September 4, 476, a date traditionally cited as the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Romulus was spared and given a pension. The empire ended not with a dramatic collapse but with a quiet retirement.
August 28, 475
1551 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Roman Empire
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Roman Emperors
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General
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Ravenna
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Orestes (Roman soldier)
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Julius Nepos
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capital city
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Roman Empire
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Orestes (father of Romulus Augustulus)
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Roman emperor
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Julius Nepos
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Capital city
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Ravenna
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Western Roman Empire
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Romulus Augustulus
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Germanic peoples
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Orestes
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Rome
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