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Western Roman Empire

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Ancient History,
Classical History and Mythology; European Geography

   CAPTION: Imperivm Romanvm Pars Occidentalis
   Western Roman Empire

   Division of the Roman Empire

   ← Flag
           395 –  476 ↓
   Motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus
   Location of Western Roman Empire bith
   The Western Roman Empire in 395.
   Capital Milan
   ( 395- 402)
   Ravenna
   ( 402- 476)
   Language(s) Latin
   Religion Christianity
   Government Monarchy
   Emperor
    - 395–423 Honorius
    - 475-476 Romulus Augustulus
   Consul
    - 395 Flavius Anicius Hermogenianus Olybrius, Flavius Anicius Probinus
    - 476 Basiliscus, Flavius Armatus
   Legislature Roman Senate
   Historical era Late Antiquity
    - Division of Theodosius 395
    - Deposition of Romulus Augustulus 476
   Area
    -  395 4,410,000 km^2
   1,702,711 sq mi
   Currency Solidus, Aureus, Denarius, Sestertius, As
   Preceded by      Succeeded by

   Roman Empire

               Kingdom of Odoacer
               Visigothic Kingdom
               Ostrogothic kingdom
               Burgundian Kingdom
               Vandalic Kingdom
               Kingdom of the Sueves
               Domain of Soissons
               Romano-British Kingdoms
               Frankish Empire

   The Western Roman Empire is the western half of the Roman Empire after
   its division by Diocletian in 286. It existed intermittently in several
   periods between the 3rd century and the 5th century, after Diocletian's
   Tetrarchy and the reunifications associated with Constantine the Great,
   and Julian the Apostate. Theodosius I was the last Roman Emperor who
   ruled over a unified Roman empire. After his death in 395, the Roman
   Empire was permanently divided. The Western Roman Empire ended
   officially with the abdication of Romulus Augustus under pressure of
   Odoacer on 4 September 476, and unofficially with the death of Julius
   Nepos in 480.

   Despite brief periods of reconquest by its counterpart, the Eastern
   Roman Empire, widely known as the Byzantine Empire, the Western Roman
   Empire would not rise again. The Byzantine Empire survived for another
   millennium before being eventually conquered by the Ottoman Empire in
   1453.

   As the Western Roman Empire fell, a new era began in Western European
   history: the Middle Ages.

Background

   As the Roman Republic expanded, it naturally reached a point in which
   the central government in Rome could not expect to rule effectively the
   distant provinces. This was because of slow communications and
   relatively slow transportation methods. The news of an enemy invasion,
   a revolt, an epidemic outbreak or of a natural disaster was carried by
   ship or by mounted postal service (the Cursus publicus) and therefore
   needed quite some time to reach Rome. A similar amount of time was
   required for a response and a reaction. Therefore the provinces were
   administrated by governors who de facto ruled them in the name of the
   Roman republic.

   Shortly before the Roman Empire, the territories of the Roman Republic
   had been divided between the members of the Second Triumvirate,
   composed by Octavian, Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.

   Antony received all the provinces in the East, namely Achaea, Macedonia
   and Epirus (roughly modern Greece), Bithynia, Pontus and Asia (roughly
   modern Turkey), Syria, Cyprus and Cyrenaica. This part had been
   previously conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, and
   a large portion of the local aristocracy were of Greek and Macedonian
   origin. The majority of the royal dynasties were in fact descendants of
   his generals. This region had been assimilated to a large degree by the
   Greek culture, and Greek was the lingua-franca in most of the larger
   cities.
   The Roman Republic before the conquests of Octavian
   The Roman Republic before the conquests of Octavian

   Octavian, on the other hand, had obtained the Roman provinces of the
   West: Italia (modern Italy), Gaul (modern France), Gallia Belgica
   (parts of modern Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) and Hispania
   (modern Spain and Portugal). This part also had many Greek and
   Carthaginian colonies on the coastal areas, but the area had been
   culturally dominated by the Celtic tribes like the Gauls and the
   Celtiberians.

   Lepidus was given the minor province of Africa (modern Tunisia) to
   govern. After some political and military developments, Octavian took
   the province of Africa away from Lepidus and took possession of the
   Greek-colonized island of Sicilia (modern Sicily).

   After the defeat of Mark Antony, the victorious Octavian controlled the
   whole Roman Empire from Rome. During his reign, his friend Agrippa
   temporarily ruled over the eastern provinces as his personal
   representative. This happened again during the rule of Tiberius who
   sent his heir-apparent Germanicus to the east.

   The Roman Empire had many different cultures, and all of them were
   subject to a gradual process of Romanization. Greek was also spoken in
   the West and Latin was also spoken the East. Greek culture as a whole
   was hardly an antagonist to Latin culture, in fact it helped to unify
   culturally the Roman Empire and both of these cultures were equal
   partners in the Greco-Roman world. Nevertheless, later military
   developments with its political consequences divided the Roman Empire,
   and much later the Byzantine Empire would regroup around Greek culture.

Rebellions, uprisings and political consequences

   In peacetime, it was relatively easy to rule the empire from its
   capital city Rome. An eventual rebellion was expected and would happen
   from time to time: a general or a governor would gain the loyalty of
   his officers through a mixture of personal charisma, promises and
   simple bribes. A conquered tribe would rebel, or a conquered city would
   revolt. The legions were spread around the borders and the rebel leader
   would, in normal circumstances, have only one or two legions under his
   command. Loyal legions would be detached from other points of the
   empire and would eventually drown the rebellion in blood. This happened
   even more easily in case of a small local native uprising as the rebels
   would normally have no great military experience. Unless the emperor
   was weak, incompetent, hated, and/or universally despised, these
   rebellions would be local and isolated events.

   During real wartime, however, which could develop from a rebellion or
   an uprising, like the massive Great Jewish Revolt, this was totally and
   dangerously different. In a full-blown military campaign, the legions
   under the command of generals like Vespasian were of a much greater
   number. Therefore to be certain of the commander's loyalty, a paranoid
   or wise emperor would hold some members of the general's family as
   hostages. In effect, Nero held Domitian and Quintus Petillius Cerialis
   the governor of Ostia, who were respectively the younger son and the
   brother-in-law of Vespasian. The rule of Nero only ended with the
   revolt of the Praetorian Guard who had been bribed in the name of
   Galba. The Praetorian Guard was a figurative "sword of Damocles" whose
   loyalty was bought and who became increasingly greedy. Following their
   example, the legions at the borders also increasingly participated in
   the civil wars.

   The main enemy in the West was arguably the Germanic tribes behind the
   rivers Rhine and Danube. Octavian had tried to conquer them but
   ultimately failed - they were greatly feared.
   the empire of Parthia, the arch-rival of Rome, at its greatest extent,
   c. 60 BC
   the empire of Parthia, the arch-rival of Rome, at its greatest extent,
   c. 60 BC

   Parthia, in the East, on the other hand, was too far away to be
   conquered. Any Parthian invasion was confronted and usually defeated,
   but the threat itself was ultimately impossible to destroy.

   In the case of a Roman civil war these two enemies would seize the
   opportunity to invade Roman territory in order to raid and plunder. The
   two respective military frontiers became a matter of major political
   importance because of the high number of legions stationed there. The
   local generals would often rebel and start new civil wars. To control
   the western border from Rome was reasonably easy since it was
   relatively close. To control both frontiers at the same time during
   wartime was difficult. If the emperor was near the border in the East,
   chances were high that an ambitious general would rebel in the West and
   vice-versa. Emperors were increasingly near the troops in order to
   control them, and no single emperor could be at the two frontiers at
   the same time. This problem plagued the ruling emperors, and many
   future emperors followed this path to power.

Economic stagnation in the West

   Rome and the Italian peninsula began to experience an economic slowdown
   as industries and money began to move outward. By the beginning of the
   2nd century AD, the economic stagnation of Italia was seen in the
   provincial-born Emperors, such as Trajan and Hadrian. Economic problems
   increased in strength and frequency.

Crisis of the 3rd century

   Starting on the 18 March 235, with the assassination of the Emperor
   Alexander Severus, the Roman Empire fell into a period of fifty years
   of civil war, known today as the Crisis of the Third Century. The rise
   of the warlike Sassanid dynasty in Parthia had created a major threat
   to Rome in the east. Demonstrating the increased danger, Emperor
   Valerian was captured by Shapur I in 259. His eldest son and
   heir-apparent, Gallienus, succeeded and was fighting in the eastern
   frontier. The son of Gallienus, Saloninus, and the Praetorian Prefect
   Silvanus, were residing in Colonia Agrippina (modern Cologne) trying to
   maintain the loyalty of the local legions. Nevertheless, the local
   governor of the German provinces, Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus
   rebelled and assaulted Colonia Agrippina, killing Saloninus and the
   prefect. In the confusion that followed an independent state known as
   the Gallic Empire emerged.

   Its capital was Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier), and it quickly
   expanded its control over the German and Gaulish provinces and over all
   of Hispania and Britannia. It had its own senate, and a partial list of
   its consuls still survives. It maintained Roman religion, language, and
   culture, and was far more concerned with fighting the Germanic tribes
   than other Romans. However, in the reign of Claudius Gothicus (268 to
   270), large expanses of the Gallic Empire were returned to Roman rule.

   At roughly the same time, the eastern provinces seceded as the Empire
   of Palmyra, under the rule of Queen Zenobia.

   In 272, Emperor Aurelian finally managed to subdue Palmyra and reclaim
   its territory for the empire. With the East secure, he turned his
   attention to the West, and in the next year, the Gallic Empire also
   fell. Because of a secret deal between Aurelian and the Gallic Emperor
   Tetricus I and his son Tetricus II, the Gallic army was swiftly
   defeated. In exchange, Aurelian spared their lives and gave the two
   former rebels important positions in Italy.

Tetrarchy

   Sculpture of the Roman Tetrarchy.
   Sculpture of the Roman Tetrarchy.

   The external borders were mostly quiet for the remainder of the Crisis
   of the Third Century, although between the death of Aurelian in 275 and
   the accession of Diocletian ten years later, at least eight emperors or
   would-be emperors were killed, many assassinated by their own troops.

   Under Diocletian, the political division of the Roman Empire began. In
   286, through the creation of the Tetrarchy, he gave the western part to
   Maximian as Augustus and named Constantius Chlorus as his subordinate (
   Caesar). This system effectively divided the empire into four parts and
   created separate capitals besides Rome as a way to avoid the civil
   unrest that had marked the 3rd century. In the West, the capitals were
   Maximian's Milan and Constantius' Trier. On 1 May 305, the two senior
   Augusti stepped down and were replaced by their respective Caesars.

Constantine

   The system of the Tetrarchy quickly ran aground when the Western
   Empire's Constantius died unexpectedly in 306, and his son Constantine
   was proclaimed Augustus of the West by the legions in Britain. A crisis
   followed as several claimants attempted to rule the Western half. In
   308, the Augustus of the East, Galerius, arranged a conference at
   Carnuntum which revived the Tetrarchy by dividing the West between
   Constantine and a newcomer named Licinius. Constantine was far more
   interested in reconquering the whole empire. Through a series of
   battles in the East and the West, Licinius and Constantine stabilized
   their respective parts of the Roman Empire by 314, and they now
   competed for sole control of a reunified state. Constantine emerged
   victorious in 324 after the surrender and the murder of Licinius
   following the Battle of Chrysopolis.

   The Tetrarchy was dead, but the idea of dividing the Roman Empire
   between two emperors had been proven too good to be simply ignored and
   forgotten. Very strong emperors would reunite it under their single
   rule, but with their death the Roman Empire would be divided again and
   again between the East and the West.

Second division

   The Roman Empire was under the rule of a single Emperor, but with the
   death of Constantine in 337, civil war erupted among his three sons,
   dividing the empire into three parts. The West was reunified in 340,
   and a complete reunification of the whole empire occurred in 353, with
   Constantius II.

   Constantius II focused most of his power in the East, and is often
   regarded as the first emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Under his rule,
   the city of Byzantium, only recently refounded as Constantinople, was
   fully developed as a capital.

   In 361, Constantius II became ill and died, and Constantius Chlorus'
   grandson Julian, who had served as Constantius II's Caesar, took power.
   Julian was killed carrying on Constantius II's war against Persia in
   363 and was replaced by Jovian who ruled only until 364.

Final division

   The division of the Empire after the death of Theodosius I, ca.395 AD
   superimposed on modern borders.      Western Roman Empire      Eastern
   Roman Empire
   The division of the Empire after the death of Theodosius I, ca.395 AD
   superimposed on modern borders.      Western Roman Empire      Eastern
   Roman Empire

   Following the death of Jovian, the empire fell again into a new period
   of civil war similar to the Crisis of the Third Century. In 364
   Valentinian I emerged. He immediately divided the empire once again,
   giving the eastern half to his brother Valens. Stability was not
   achieved for long in either half as the conflicts with outside forces
   intensified, especially with the Huns and the Goths. A serious problem
   in the West was a political reaction caused by the indigenous paganism
   against the Christianizing emperors. In 379 Valentinian I's son and
   successor Gratian declined to wear the mantle of pontifex maximus, and
   in 382 he rescinded the rights of pagan priests and removed the pagan
   altar from the Roman Curia, and gave the title of Pontifex Maximus to
   the Pope.

   In 388, a powerful and popular general named Magnus Maximus seized
   power in the west and forced Gratian's son Valentinian II to flee to
   the east and ask for the aid of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius I who
   quickly restored him to power. He also caused a ban on the native
   paganism to be implemented in the west in 391, enforcing Christianity.
   In 392 the Frankish and pagan magister militum Arbogast assassinated
   Valentinian II, and a senator named Eugenius was proclaimed emperor
   until he was defeated in 394 by Theodosius I, who, having ruled both
   East and West for a year, died in 395. This was the last time in which
   a single ruler ruled over both parts of the Roman Empire.

   A short period of stability under Emperor Flavius Augustus Honorius
   (controlled by Flavius Stilicho) ended at Stilicho's death in 408.
   After this, the two empires truly diverged, as the East began a slow
   recovery and consolidation, while the West began to collapse entirely.

Economic factors

   Germanic and Hunnic invasions of the Roman Empire, 100-500 AD
   Germanic and Hunnic invasions of the Roman Empire, 100-500 AD

   While the West was experiencing an economic decline throughout the late
   empire, the East was not so economically decadent, especially as
   Emperors like Constantine the Great and Constantius II began pouring
   vast sums of money into the eastern economy. The economic decline of
   the West aided in the eventual collapse of this area of the empire.
   Without sufficient taxes, the state could not maintain an expensive
   professional army and resorted to hiring mercenaries.

   As the central power weakened, the State also lost control of its
   borders and provinces and the vital control over the Mediterranean Sea.
   Roman Emperors tried to keep outside forces away from controlling
   sections of the sea, but once the Vandals conquered North Africa, the
   imperial authorities had to cover too much ground with too few
   resources. The Roman institutions collapsed along with the economic
   stability. Most invaders required a third of the land they conquered
   from their Roman subjects, and this could turn into much more, as
   different tribes conquered the same province.

   Tens of square kilometres of carefully developed land was abandoned due
   to lack of economic viability and of political stability. Because most
   of the economy of Classical antiquity was based upon agriculture, this
   was a severe economic blow. This occurred because most plots of land
   require a certain investment of time and money in simple maintenance to
   maintain production. Unfortunately, this meant that any attempt to
   recover the West by the East was very difficult, and the huge decline
   in the local economy made these new reconquests too expensive to
   maintain.

Conquest of Rome and fall of the Western Roman Empire

   The Western and Eastern Roman Empires by 476
   The Western and Eastern Roman Empires by 476
   Romulus Augustus on a gold Tremissis
   Romulus Augustus on a gold Tremissis
   Julius Nepos on a gold Tremissis
   Julius Nepos on a gold Tremissis

   With the death of Stilicho in 408, Honorius was left in charge, and
   although he ruled until his death in 423, his reign was filled with
   usurpations and invasions, particularly by the Vandals and Visigoths.
   In 410, Rome was sacked by outside forces for the first time since the
   Gallic invasions of the 4th century BC. The instability caused by
   usurpers throughout the Western Empire helped these tribes in their
   conquests, and in the 5th century the Germanic tribes became usurpers
   themselves. In 475, Orestes, a former secretary of Attila the Hun drove
   Emperor Julius Nepos out of Ravenna and proclaimed his own son Romulus
   Augustus as emperor.

   Although some isolated pockets of Roman rule continued (in Dalmatia
   under emperor Julius Nepos and north-western Gaul under Syagrius ), the
   control of Rome over the West had effectively ended. In 476, Orestes
   refused to grant the Heruli led by Odoacer federated status, and
   Odoacer sacked Rome and sent the imperial insignia to Constantinople,
   installing himself as king over Italy.

Last emperor

   Historical convention has determined that the Western Roman Empire
   ended on 4 September 476, when Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustus.
   However, the issue in practice is not clear-cut.

   Julius Nepos still claimed to be Emperor of the West, ruling the rump
   state of Dalmatia, and was recognized as such by Byzantine Emperor Zeno
   and by Syagrius, who had managed to preserve a Roman enclave in
   northern Gaul, known today as the Domain of Soissons. Odoacer
   proclaimed himself ruler of Italy and began to negotiate with Zeno. The
   Byzantine emperor eventually did grant Odoacer patrician status as a
   recognition of his authority and accepted him as his own viceroy of
   Italy. Zeno however insisted that Odoacer payed homage to Nepos as
   western emperor. Odoacer accepted this condition and even issued coins
   in Nepos' name throughout Italy. This however was mainly an empty
   political gesture as Odoacer never returned any real power or
   territories to Nepos. Nepos was eventually murdered in 480 and Odoacer
   quickly invaded and conquered Dalmatia.

Theodoric

   The Ostrogothic Kingdom, which rose from the ruins of the late Western
   Roman Empire
   The Ostrogothic Kingdom, which rose from the ruins of the late Western
   Roman Empire

   The last hope for a reunited Empire came in 493, as Odoacer was
   replaced by the Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great. Theodoric had been
   recruited by Zeno to reconquer the western portion of the empire, Rome
   most importantly. De jure he was a subordinate, a viceroy of the
   emperor of the East. De facto Theodoric was an equal.

   Following Theodoric's death in 526, the West no longer resembled the
   East. The West was now fully controlled by invading outside tribes,
   while the East had retreated and Hellenized. While the East would make
   some attempts to recapture the West, it was never again the old Roman
   Empire.

Byzantine reconquest

   Throughout the Middle Ages, the eastern Byzantine Empire laid claims on
   areas of the West which had been occupied by several tribes. In the 6th
   century, the Byzantine Empire managed to reconquer large areas of the
   former Western Roman Empire. The most successful were the campaigns of
   the Byzantine generals Belisarius and Narses on behalf of Emperor
   Justinian I from 533 to 554. The Vandal-occupied former Roman territory
   in North Africa was regained, particularly the territory centred around
   the city of Carthage. The campaign eventually moved into Italy and
   reconquered it completely. Minor territories were taken as far west as
   the southern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.
   Byzantine Empire in 550. The re-conquests of Justinian I are in green
   Byzantine Empire in 550. The re-conquests of Justinian I are in green

   It appeared at the time that perhaps Rome could be reconstituted.
   However, the tribal influence had caused far too much damage to these
   former Roman provinces, both economically and culturally. Not only were
   they extremely costly to maintain, the invasion and propagation of the
   Germanic tribes throughout these territories meant that much of the
   Roman culture and identity that had held the empire together had been
   destroyed or severely damaged.

   Although some eastern emperors occasionally attempted to reconquer some
   parts of the West, none were as successful as Justinian. The division
   between the two areas grew, resulting in a growing rivalry. While the
   Eastern Roman Empire continued after Justinian, the eastern emperors
   focused mainly on defending its traditional territory. The East no
   longer had the necessary military strength, spelling the end of any
   hope for reunification.

Legacy

   Romance languages in Europe
   Romance languages in Europe

   As the Western Roman Empire crumbled, the new Germanic rulers who had
   conquered the provinces felt the need to uphold many Roman laws and
   traditions as they felt appropriate. Many of the invading Germanic
   tribes were already Christianised, but most of them were followers of
   Arianism. They quickly converted to the Catholic faith, gaining more
   loyalty by the local Romanized population and at the same time
   recognition and support by the powerful Roman Catholic Church. Although
   they initially continued to recognise their indigenous tribal laws,
   they were more influenced by Roman Law and gradually incorporated it as
   well.

   Roman Law, particularly the Corpus Juris Civilis collected by order of
   Justinian I, is the ancient basis on which the modern Civil law stands.
   In contrast, Common law is based on the Germanic Anglo-Saxon law.

   Latin as a language never really disappeared. It combined with
   neighboring Germanic and Celtic languages, giving origin to many modern
   Romance languages such as: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese,
   Romanian and Romansh, and influenced many Germanic languages such as
   English, German, Dutch and many others to a certain extent. It survives
   in its "purer" form as the language of the Roman Catholic Church (the
   Mass was spoken exclusively in Latin until 1965) and was used as a
   lingua franca between many nations. It remained the language of
   medicine, law, diplomacy (most treaties were written in Latin), of
   intellectuals and scholarship.

   The Latin alphabet was expanded with the letters J, K, W and Z and is
   the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today.
   Roman numerals continue to be used but were mostly replaced by Arabic
   numerals.

   The ideal of the Roman Empire as a mighty Christian Empire with a
   single ruler continued to seduce many powerful rulers. Charlemagne,
   King of the Franks and Lombards, was even crowned as Roman Emperor by
   Pope Leo III in 800. Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire like Frederick I
   Barbarossa, Frederick II and Charles V, and mighty Sultans like
   Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire, among others, tried to
   a certain extent to resurrect it, but none of their attempts were
   successful.

   A very visible legacy of the Western Roman Empire is the Roman Catholic
   Church. The Church slowly began to replace Roman institutions in the
   West, even helping to negotiate the safety of Rome during the late 5th
   Century. As Rome was invaded by Germanic tribes, many assimilated, and
   by the middle of the medieval period (c.9th and 10th centuries) the
   central, western and northern parts of Europe had been largely
   converted to the Roman Catholic Faith and acknowledged the Pope as the
   Vicar of Christ.

List of Western Roman emperors

Gallic Emperors (259 to 273)

     * Postumus: 259 to 268
     * Laelianus: 268 Usurper
     * Marcus Aurelius Marius: 268
     * Victorinus: 268 to 271
     * Domitianus: 271 Usurper
     * Tetricus I: 271 to 273
          + Tetricus II: 271 to 273 Son and co-emperor of Tetricus I

Tetrarchy (293 to 313)

   Augusti are shown with their Caesares and regents further indented
     * Maximian: 293 to 305
          + Constantius Chlorus: 293 to 305
     * Constantius Chlorus: 305 to 306
          + Flavius Valerius Severus: 305 to 306
     * Flavius Valerius Severus: 306 to 307
          + Constantine I: 306 to 313
     * Maxentius/ Maximian: 307 to 308
     * Licinius: 308 to 313
     * Maxentius: 308 to 312 Usurper
     * Domitius Alexander: 308 to 309 African usurper

Constantinian dynasty (313 to 363)

     * Constantine I: 313 to 337 Sole emperor of the whole Roman Empire
       324 to 337
     * Constantine II: 337 to 340 Emperor of Gaul, Britannia, and Hispania
     * Constans I: 337 to 350 Initially emperor of Italy and Africa;
       emperor of the west 340 to 350
     * Magnentius: 350 to 353 Usurper
     * Constantius II: 353 to 361 Sole emperor
          + Julian: 355 to 361
     * Julian: 361 to 363

Non-dynastic (363 to 364)

     * Jovian: 363 to 364

Valentinian dynasty (364 to 392)

     * Valentinian I: 364 to 375
          + Gratian: 367 to 375
     * Gratian: 375 to 383
          + Valentinian II: 375 to 383
     * Magnus Maximus: 383 to 388 Usurper
     * Valentinian II: 383 to 392

Non-dynastic (392 to 394)

     * Eugenius: 392 to 394

Theodosian dynasty (394 to 455)

     * Theodosius I: 394 to 395 Sole emperor
     * Honorius: 395 to 423
          + Flavius Stilicho: 395 to 408 Power behind the throne
          + Constantius III: 421
     * Constantine III: 407 to 411 Usurper
     * Priscus Attalus: 409 to 410/414 to 415 Usurper
     * Jovinus: 411 to 412 Usurper
     * Valentinian III: 423 to 455
          + Galla Placidia: 423 to 433 Regent
          + Aëtius: 433 to 454 Regent
     * Joannes: 423 to 425 Usurper

Non-dynastic (455 to 480)

     * Petronius Maximus: 455
     * Avitus: 455 to 456
          + Ricimer: 456 to 472 Power behind the throne
     * Majorian: 457 to 461
     * Libius Severus: 461 to 465
     * Anthemius: 465 to 472
     * Olybrius: 472
     * Glycerius: 473 to 474
     * Julius Nepos: 474 to 480 In exile 475 to 480
     * Romulus Augustus: 475 to 476
          + Flavius Orestes: 475 to 476 Power behind the throne

   Flavius Orestes was killed by revolting Germanic mercenaries. Their
   chieftain, Odoacer, assumed control of Italy as a de jure
   representative of Julius Nepos and Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno.

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