Odoacer

Odoacer, also spelled Odovacer, was a soldier and statesman of non-Roman heritage who, as an officer in the Roman army, led a revolt of Herulian, Rugian and Scirian troops that deposed the boy emperor Romulus Augustulus on 4 September 476. He then ruled Italy until 493, a takeover traditionally taken to mark the end of the Western Roman Empire. Although he held power himself, he styled himself a client of the Eastern emperor Zeno, and he was addressed as king, duke and patrician. Backed by the Roman Senate, he distributed land with little resistance and kept a stable reign, though he was an Arian. After Theodoric the Great invaded in 489 and forced him into Ravenna, Odoacer surrendered in March 493 and was murdered by Theodoric at a banquet.