No known policies, laws or inscriptions of significance survive from the ten-month reign of Romulus Augustus. The historical record leaves a profound silence around his time on the throne. He was placed on the imperial throne while still a minor by his father Orestes. This arrangement made him little more than a figurehead for actual power. Historians have noted that he was perhaps even the least significant of the short-lived emperors near the end of the Western Roman Empire. His immediate family came from the Roman province of Pannonia. Many of his family members had military backgrounds. Yet no concrete evidence exists regarding his personal actions or decisions during those months. The lack of surviving records creates an impression of a shadowy and relatively inconsequential figure.
Geopolitical Collapse And Usurpation
Julius Nepos fled to Dalmatia after Orestes entered Ravenna with his army on the 28th of August 475. Nepos continued to claim the imperial title in exile despite losing control of Italy. This situation hampered Romulus's legitimacy and ensured he was never recognised by the Eastern Roman emperor Zeno. The western empire experienced a period of catastrophic decline throughout the 5th century. Much of the west was more rural, with fewer people and a less stable economy compared to eastern provinces. An increasing number of Germanic barbarian invasions and settlements added to these issues. In 410, the Visigoths under Alaric I had sacked Rome. That same year, Rome was sacked again for the second time in less than fifty years, this time by the Vandals. By 475, the western empire was in critical condition. Outside of Italy, authority was only exercised in Raetia and some regions of Gaul.Odoacer's Rebellion And Deposition
On the 28th of August 476, Odoacer defeated Orestes in battle at Ticinum and captured him. Orestes had once worked alongside Odoacer's father Edeko at the court of Attila. The barbarian foederati in Italy demanded land to settle on, which was refused by Orestes. On the 4th of September, Odoacer captured Ravenna, killing Orestes' deputy and brother Paulus during the fighting. Romulus was captured and deposed whereafter Odoacer assumed control of Italy as its first king. Odoacer sent Romulus' western imperial regalia to emperor Zeno in the east. He swore allegiance to Zeno, ruling without further imperial successors in the west. According to the 5th-century Eastern Roman writer Malchus, Odoacer may have forced Romulus himself to send a letter of resignation to Zeno. This letter stated that the Roman Empire from this point only required a single emperor, ruling from Constantinople.