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Biography of Odoacer
Name: Odoacer
Birth Date: 433
Death Date: 493
Place of Birth: N/A
Nationality: German
Gender: Male
Occupations: chieftain
Odoacer
The Germanic chieftain Odoacer (433-493), by deposing the Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus, is traditionally credited with ending the Western Roman Empire.Odoacer was born into a Germanic tribe, the Scirians, and was probably the younger son of Edico, an important person under Attila the Hun. In 470 he and the Scirians entered Italy and, together with many Germanic warriors, took up military service under the Romans. In 472 these German troops, including Odoacer, rebelled and aided the powerful German Ricimer in his bid to make Olybrius emperor. Both Ricimer and Olybrius soon died, and in the ensuing struggle a Roman officer, Orestes, triumphed. In 476 he established his son Romulus Augustulus as emperor, dispossessing the existing Western emperor, Julius Nepos.However, Orestes failed to satisfy the demands of the Germans, who turned to Odoacer, proclaiming him king on Aug. 23, 476. The Germans then followed him in a rebellion which led to Orestes' death and Romulus's …showed first 150 words…
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…showed last 150 words…the Visigoths, and Gaiseric, King of the Vandals. From 477 he even issued coins in his own name.Theodoric remained the major threat. In 489 he entered Italy. After several major defeats, Odoacer in 490 lost the support of the Roman Senate. He fell back upon the capital at Ravenna, where he endured a siege of 2 years. In 493 a compromise was worked out; Odoacer and Theodoric agreed to rule Italy jointly. However, a few days after entering the city, Theodoric slew Odoacer. Further Reading Ancient sources for Odoacer are given in Colin Douglas Gordon, The Age of Attila (1960). The best accounts in English are in Thomas Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders (8 vols., 1880-1889), and J. B. Bury, A History of the Later Roman Empire (2 vols., 1889). More recent sources are Stewart Perowne, The End of the Roman World (1966), and Arnold H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284-602 (3 vols., 1964) and The Decline of the Ancient World (1966).
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