Odoacer Proclaimed King

Date: August 23, 476 • Location: Rome, Italy

Odoacer, chieftain of the Germanic tribes (Herulic – Scirian foederati), is proclaimed rex Italiae ("King of Italy") by his troops.

Odoacer, also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a soldier and statesman of non-Roman heritage who, as an officer of the Roman army, deposed the Western Roman child emperor Romulus Augustulus to become the ruler of Italy in the period 476–493 AD. His takeover is traditionally understood as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire.