Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Багерман А.Я.

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The fall of the Western Roman Empire was the long collapse of Roman imperial authority in the West during the fifth century. It is usually dated to 476 CE, when the Germanic commander Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus. Several dates need to be kept separate: Rome as a city was sacked by Alaric's Visigoths in 410, the western imperial court ceased to function in 476, and the Eastern Roman Empire continued at Constantinople until 1453.

In brief:

• the conventional date for the fall of the Western Roman Empire is 476;
• 410 was the sack of the city of Rome, not the disappearance of the whole empire;
• the main causes were military pressure from barbarian federations, competition between commanders, loss of tax revenues and the weakening of the army;
• the consequences were the rise of barbarian kingdoms and the transition of western Europe from Antiquity to the early Middle Ages.

Division of the Empire between the sons of Theodosius

Timeline of the fall

• 395 — after the death of Theodosius I, the empire is governed by separate eastern and western courts.
• 401-410 — Alaric's Visigoths campaign in Italy; Rome is sacked in 410, but the western imperial government continues.
• 406/407 — Vandals, Alans and Suebi cross the Rhine, weakening Roman control in Gaul and Spain.
• 429-439 — the Vandals seize North Africa and Carthage, depriving the West of taxes, grain and naval strength.
• 451 — Aetius and his allies stop Attila's Huns at the Catalaunian Plains.
• 455 — the Vandals sack Rome; political instability in Italy becomes almost continuous.
• 476 — Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus and sends the imperial insignia to Constantinople.

Background

After the death of Theodosius I in 395, imperial power was effectively divided between two courts. The East, centred on Constantinople, retained a stronger fiscal base, wealthy cities and a more resilient administration. The West was governed first from Mediolanum and, from 402, from the safer city of Ravenna, but it depended on the more vulnerable tax resources of Italy, Gaul, Spain and Africa.

The crisis did not begin suddenly in the fifth century. It was prepared by civil wars, the third-century crisis, the growing power of generals, reliance on federate troops and the pressure of peoples moving toward Roman frontiers during the Migration Period. The fall of the West is therefore better understood as a chain of military, fiscal and political failures rather than a single event.

Main events leading to the fall of the Western Roman Empire

Each new external shock weakened imperial authority further. In 401 Alaric's Visigoths invaded Italy. Stilicho checked them for a time, but after his execution in 408 the balance broke down: some soldiers joined Alaric, and in 410 Rome was sacked. The event was symbolically devastating, although the western government continued to exist at Ravenna.

At the same time the West was losing provinces. Vandals, Alans and Suebi established themselves in Spain, and the Vandals under Geiseric then crossed into Africa. The capture of Carthage in 439 was especially damaging: Africa supplied grain, taxes and naval power. Without those resources the western court found it increasingly difficult to maintain a regular army.

The West could still resist in the mid-fifth century. In 451 Aetius and his barbarian allies stopped Attila at the Catalaunian Plains, but in 454 Aetius was murdered on the orders of Valentinian III. After Valentinian's own assassination in 455, Rome again lacked stable leadership and was sacked by the Vandals.

The last serious attempt at recovery is associated with Majorian, who ruled from 457 to 461 and tried to restore Roman control in Gaul, Spain and Africa. His overthrow showed that western emperors now depended on military leaders of barbarian origin. By the 470s the imperial title in Italy no longer gave real authority over most former western provinces.

Fall of the Western Roman Empire

In 476 Odoacer deposed the young Romulus Augustulus. He did not proclaim a new western emperor; instead he sent the imperial insignia to Constantinople and ruled Italy as king while formally acknowledging the seniority of the eastern emperor.

The event did not mean the instant disappearance of Roman culture, law or administration. The Senate, cities, Latin literacy and many fiscal practices continued. But independent imperial rule in the West had ended, and its place was taken by the kingdoms of Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, Franks and other peoples.

Europe and the Mediterranean in 476

Related topics

Roman Empire, Emperors of Rome, Crisis of the Third Century, Roman army, Late Roman legions

Literature

Ancient sources

1. Ammianus Marcellinus. Res Gestae. 2. Jordanes. Getica. 3. Procopius of Caesarea. Vandal War.

Modern studies

1. Peter Heather. The Fall of the Roman Empire. 2. Bryan Ward-Perkins. The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization. 3. A. H. M. Jones. The Later Roman Empire, 284-602.