About this episode
What happens when the most powerful job in the world is a death sentence no one wants? In 475 AD, as the Western Roman Empire crumbled, the imperial throne was not seized by a general or a usurper, but thrust upon a teenage bureaucrat with no military or political experience. His name was Romulus Augustulus, and his reign would become the ultimate symbol of imperial collapse. But who forced him into the purple, and why would anyone crown a boy they knew could not possibly succeed?
This episode delves into the desperate, cynical final act of Roman power politics. We follow the machinations of his father, Orestes, a former secretary to Attila the Hun, who commanded the last Roman army in Italy. We explore why Orestes chose to make his son a puppet emperor instead of claiming the title himself, and how this calculated move was a final, futile attempt to placate the barbarian mercenaries who now formed the backbone—and the fatal weakness—of the Roman state.
Listeners will uncover the tragic, almost absurd, 10-month reign of the last Western Roman Emperor. You’ll understand how the empire’s final crisis was not a dramatic invasion, but a payroll dispute with the very soldiers hired to protect it, leading directly to the coup by Odoacer that formally ended centuries of imperial rule.
The fall was not announced with a bang, but with a pension and a quiet retirement.
#LastRomanEmperor #RomulusAugustulus #Orestes #Odoacer #FallOfTheWest #PuppetEmperor #BarbarianPayroll #EndOfAntiquity
Hosted by Ibnul Jaif Farabi. Produced by Light Knot Studios (lightknotstudios.com).
