The boy emperor who ended an empire: The tragic life of Romulus Augustus

Romulus was probably born around AD 460 or a little later. By then, the world around him was already falling apart.

The Western Roman Empire had become a shadow of its former self. Germanic tribes controlled large parts of Gaul, Hispania, and North Africa.

The imperial court moved often because they were forced to flee from the threat of foreign armies and rebellious generals.

The emperors of the fifth century had little real power, as they had to rely on strong military leaders who controlled events behind the scenes.

His father, Orestes, was one of these men. 

Orestes had once worked as a secretary to Attila the Hun and later rose to importance in Roman service.

In AD 475, he went against the current emperor, Julius Nepos, and marched on Ravenna, the capital.

Instead of taking the throne himself, Orestes placed his young son on it. The boy, likely no older than fifteen, was made emperor under the name Romulus Augustus.

Real control stayed with his father, who now ruled the Western Empire in all but name. 

Putting a child on the throne did not solve the empire’s serious problems. The army was divided, and its soldiers more and more often came from barbarian groups because they wanted land in return for service.

The treasury was almost empty, and tax money had been decreasing for years. The civil government, once the strength of Roman rule, had become a weak system that could not enforce laws beyond Italy.

In this desperate situation, Orestes refused to give land in Italy to the Germanic troops who had helped him gain power. 

This choice led to a rebellion. In AD 476, a Germanic leader named Odoacer led a group of angry soldiers against Orestes.

His army beat the Roman forces and killed Orestes near Piacenza. Soon after, they captured Ravenna.

Romulus Augustus, still just a teenager, was taken prisoner. Odoacer chose not to kill him.

He then made himself ruler of Italy and sent the imperial symbols to the Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople, which showed that the West no longer needed its own emperor. 

Romulus’ rule lasted about ten or eleven months, which was never recognised by the Eastern court, as it still viewed Julius Nepos as the rightful ruler in the West.

Still, historians have traditionally seen the removal of Romulus Augustus in AD 476 as the end of the Western Roman Empire.

The powerful meaning of his fall was greater than the small amount of power he really had. 

We know very little about Romulus' later life. Some sources say he lived quietly under Odoacer’s protection, perhaps with a payment.

Others suggest he joined a monastery. The exact year of his death is unknown, but it likely happened before the end of the fifth century. 

Romulus Augustus was not a leader, a soldier, or a reformer. He did not lose the empire through mistakes or betrayal, but he simply sat on a crumbling throne at the wrong time in history.

His story shows the end of an era. The greatness of Rome, once kept strong by legions and emperors, had faded so much that a boy could be made its ruler, and then quietly removed without a fight.

His sad life, short and without real power, became a small note in the story of one of history’s greatest empires.