The Puppet Emperors of the Western Roman Empire,
Traditional history often marks the year 476 AD as being the fall of the Western Roman Empire, however arguments can be made that the fall occurred at other dates. One alternative date is the year 456 AD, the year when the Roman Imperial Government lost its sovereignty, instead being ruled by puppet emperors under the control of the Germanic warlords, most notably Ricimer and Odoacer. The last Roman Emperors to have any real power were Avitus and Majorian. The reign of Avitus was short live (455-456), lasting barely a year before his magister militum (top military commander) named Ricimer overthrew him from the throne and later had him murdered. After the murder of Avitus, Ricimer appointed his own emperor to the throne, a Roman general named Majorian. Majorian is known to history as being the last Western Roman Emperor to make a concerted effort to reunite the Empire, conducting several successful campaigns against Germanic kingdoms and reconquering France and Spain. Unhappy with with Majorian's acts against his fellow Germanic peoples, Ricimer had Majorian deposed and murdered in 460 AD.
After the overthrow of Majorian, Ricimer decided that he would take personal control of the empire. However, as a German he could not be considered a legitimate emperor to the Roman people. While it was not unusual for non-Romans to become Emperor in the 1st through 3rd century, by the 5th century such as practice was forbidden. Thus, Ricimer installed a number of puppet emperors to the throne who would be under his direct control. While officially the Emperor was head of state, in reality Ricimer was in complete control, ruling from behind the shadow of the throne. To add to the legitimacy of his regime Ricimer sometimes installed men who were approved by the Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople, though he often installed men who were not approved by the Eastern Emperor. At the time, there was little the Eastern Roman Empire could do about it. Ricimer chose men who were easily pliable and held them on a very short leash to ensure they wouldn't become ambitious and independent like Majorian. His puppet emperors were also very disposable, during his 12 years as defacto ruler of Rome, Ricimer went through five emperors, only one of which died of natural causes, the others being murdered when they met Ricimer's disproval.
Ricimer died in 472, and was replaced by his nephew Gundobad, who continued the tradition of maintaining a puppet empire. Gundobad's rule was short and he was responsible only for the installment of the puppet Emperor Glycerius. In 473-474 Gundobad's father died, and he thus traveled back home to Burgundy in order to take his father's place as king. After Gundobad, a Germanic officer in the Roman Army named Odoacer took control. Odoacer installed the puppet Emperor Julian Nepos, however Nepos was quickly overthrown by the Roman general Orestes, who placed his son, Romulus Augustus on the throne. The reign of Romulus was short, as Odoacer quickly destroyed the forces of Orestes and booted Romulus out of Rome in 476 AD.
After the reign of Romulus, Odoacer finally decided to end all pretenses and named himself King of Italy. The Eastern Roman Emperor recognized his rule, but only if Odoacer in turn recognized Julian Nepos as Emperor. Nepos was in exile but ruled over a Roman remnant state in Illyricum/Dalmatia, a territory which now makes up former Yugoslavia. Odoacer agreed, even minting coins bearing Nepos' image to placate the Eastern Emperor. However Odoacer refused to allow Nepos to return to Italy. When Nepos died in 480, Odoacer conquered his territory and refused to name another emperor. The Eastern Roman Emperor, having little control of the situation, thus declared the Western Roman Empire officially dissolved in 480 AD.
