# Odoacer Ends the Western Empire (476)

URL: https://germany-history.com/timeline/476-odoacer-ends-the-western-empire
Location: Ravenna
Categories: main-event

In 476 the Germanic commander Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and became king of Italy. He sent the imperial insignia to Constantinople. Historians traditionally use the date to mark the end of antiquity in the West.

## Why it matters
Power in the West passed definitively to Germanic kingdoms.

## Sources
- [Wikipedia – Odoacer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odoacer)
- [Wikipedia – Fall of the Western Roman Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Western_Roman_Empire)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica – Odoacer](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Odoacer)