THE EMPIRE AND THE BARBARIANSwith the fact that it was left alone as the upholder of Roman tradition, and
invented its own myths of translatio imperii to justify its new role; this included
the claim that the palladium of Rome had been buried under the great statue
of Constantine in Constantinople.^6 But the year 476 has no signifi cance in
the context of the economic and social changes that were taking place in the
period; it is doubtful whether even the population of Italy at fi rst noticed
much difference. The changes which were taking place were long term and
multiple, part of a gradual process which ate away at Roman territory in the
west through settlement and force of arms, and which made it increasingly
diffi cult for the Roman government in the west to fi eld an adequate army or
prevent the erosion of its tax-raising powers;^7 the loss of the rich provinces
of North Africa was very serious, and in Gaul and elsewhere the local elites
often had no choice but to make their own accommodation with the settlers.
Sidonius Apollinaris, bishop of Clermont-Ferrand in the 470s, and himself
from the landowning class, exemplifi es the dilemmas which now faced the old
Roman elite, caught between trying to maintain a remembered lifestyle while
coming to terms with their barbarian neighbours.^8 The Life of Severinus of
Noricum (Austria) by Eugippius, set in the 470s, depicts a kind of no man’s
land where previous structures had broken down.^9 Eastern emperors tried on
several occasions during the mid-fi fth century to intervene in western affairs,
but this became less and less feasible as time went on, so that the eventual
invasion of Italy under Justinian seems extraordinary, if not even quixotic
(Chapter 5). In political terms, the fall of the feeble Romulus Augustulus was
entirely predictable. But identities were complex, especially after the death of
Attila in 451.^10 Odoacer was the son of Edeco, a Hun or Thuringian, leader
of the Sciri and one of Attila’s close allies. But he was only one in a long line
of generals who had held the real power in the western empire since the late
fourth century. When one of the fi rst and most powerful of these, Stilicho, the
Vandal magister militum of Theodosius I and regent for his son Honorius, fell in
408, suspected of treason (above, Chapter 1), he was succeeded by Romans in
the high positions of magister utriusque militiae and patricius; but real power still
lay with barbarian generals, in particular Aetius (c. 433–54). After the murder
of Valentinian III in 455, his successor Avitus, a Gallic senator, was defeated
by the Sueve Ricimer and an uneasy period followed before Majorian was
offi cially proclaimed emperor in 457, only to be killed by the same Ricimer
four years later. Again Ricimer was kingmaker, but his undistinguished choice,
Severus, who had not been ratifi ed by the eastern emperor Leo, died in 465,
again leaving the west without an offi cial ruler. When Leo imposed Anthe-
mius, his own choice, the rivalry between Anthemius and Ricimer became fi rst
a scandal and then the occasion for open hostilities, in the course of which
Anthemius was killed (472). Ricimer’s fi nal choice for emperor was Olybrius,
the Roman husband of Valentinian III’s daughter Placidia (see Chapter 1);
but both Olybrius and Ricimer died before the year was out. The nominee of
the Burgundian Gundobad was deposed by Julius Nepos with the encourage-
ment of the Emperor Leo, only to be deposed in his turn in favour of the