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He was proclaimed Emperor on October 31, 475. On September 4, 476 he was compelled to abdicate by Odoacer, an act that was long considered the end of the western Roman Empire (the Eastern Roman Empire ( Byzantine Empire) continued until 1453). By that time, though, Rome had already lost its hegemony over the provinces, and Germanic generals like Odoacer had long been the real power behind the throne.
He is frequently known by a diminutive nickname "Romulus Augustulus." The Latin termination -ulus diminishes the scale of any noun; hence, "Augustulus" would mean "the Little Augustus." However, his name was Romulus Augustus.
Unlike many of the later western Roman Emperors, Romulus' life after abdication seems to have been a good one. Because of his youth, Odoacer spared his life (although he executed his father Orestes, who had placed Romulus on the throne), and sent him to the district of Campania to live with relatives. He also granted him an annual pension, which was later confirmed by Odoacer's conqueror Theodoric the Great in 507Events Battle of Vouille: Clovis I defeats the Visigoths near Poitiers, ends Visigothic power in Gaul. Gesalec succeeds his father Alaric II as king of the Visigoths. Comgall becomes king of Dalriada. The town of Guilin, China, is renamed Guizhou. Births and again in 511. Romulus founded a monasteryA monastery is the habitation of monks. Originally: a hermit's cell. Christian monasteries are also called abbey, priory, charterhouse, friary, and preceptory The habitation of nuns is also called a convent. The communal life of a monastery is called ceno that lasted for hundreds of years, but he does not appear to have lived to see the restoration of Roman authority in ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer in 536Events June 8 St. Silverius becomes Pope (probable date). Belisarius, a general in the service of Justinian I, lands in Italy, takes Naples and Rome. The Franks invade Provence. Witiges succeeds Theodahad as ruler of the Ostrogoths. Synod of Constantinopl.
His legitimacy as the last Roman emperor is often questioned. He was never recognized by the eastern Emperor Zeno, who continued to recognize Julius NeposJulius Nepos (c. 430 480), was the last legitimate emperor ( 474- 475 de facto 474 480 de jure of the western Roman Empire. Nepos was the husband of the niece of the Eastern Roman emperor Leo, and was named as emperor in the West by Leo in 474, in order t as emperor even after Orestes deposed him in 475. However, most modern accounts consider Romulus, and not Nepos, as the last emperor of the west.
Romulus Augustus is the main character of Friedrich DürrenmattFriedrich Durrenmatt ( January 5, 1921 December 14, 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was born in Konolfingen near Bern. The politically active author gained fame largely due to his avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often's play Romulus der Große (translated to English as "Romulus"), which revolves around the last days of Romulus' emperorship. He is also one of the characters in Valerio Massimo Manfredi's book, The Last Legion .