Collapse · 476 CE
The Western Roman Empire falls
Ravenna (Italy)
On 4 September 476 the Germanic general Odoacer took Ravenna, deposed the young emperor Romulus Augustulus and sent the imperial regalia to the Eastern emperor Zeno in Constantinople instead of naming a new Western emperor. It capped a long decline that included mass migrations from 376, the sack of Rome in 410, civil wars and financial strain; historians also point to epidemics and climate change, and some prefer other end dates such as 480.
Why it mattered
Western Europe passed to Germanic kingdoms while the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire carried on for nearly a thousand years more; 476 is often used to mark the end of antiquity.
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