And So Begin the Middle
Ages
By a certain measure, today marks the anniversary of
the date in 476 from which the “Middle Ages” may be dated. On this day, the last emperor of the Western
Roman Empire, Romulus Augustus, who was little more than a child and was
completely controlled by his father, Orestes, the Magister Militum of the Roman military, was
deposed by Odoacer. Orestes had little standing to complain about the over-throw of his son's reign - Orestes had revolted against the prior emperor and put his son on the imperial throne.
With Romulus' resignation the imperial regalia was packed
up and shipped off to Byzantium. With
this event, the Western Roman Empire ceased to exist, its fragments now under
control of various “barbarian” tribes.
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