HISTORY TIDBIT: THE LAST ROMAN EMPEROR

The Roman Empire reigned supreme over most of the western world for almost five hundred years, but in 476 AD, a barbarian mercenary called Odoacer decided he’d rather be a barbarian chieftain than a Roman solider and turned on Rome. Two days after leading his followers to victory at the Battle of Ravenna on September 2^nd, 476 AD, Odoacer forced the last of the Roman emperors, sixteen-year-old Romulus Augustus, to abdicate and became Flavius Odoacer, first King of Italy, which he thought had a nicer ring to it. For a barbarian, Odoacer obviously wasn’t all that ‘barbaric’ because, instead of having the boy-emperor meet the fate of many of his deposed predecessors, he took his youth into consideration and just packed him off to relatives. (He even gave him a pension.)

To spark a discussion on why Rome fell, visit:

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/8-reasons-why-rome-fell

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-was-the-fall-of-rome-112688

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