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sorne time from mltitary and politi–
cal wounds. It has been kept alive
only ceremoniously. Now, the cere–
mony is also ready to vanish.
Year 476: Tbe End of the Empire.
The young man named Romulus is
the emperor of the Roman Empire,
a mere shadow of its former self.
The first Romulus was one of the
two fabled founders of Rome; this
Romulus will be the last emperor of
the Roman Empire in the West.
Romulus, mockingly called Augus–
tulus, "the little Augustus," is taken
captive by Odovacer in 476 and is
simply dismissed.
Many a Roman emperor had met
with a violent end; many had been
mere puppets.
But none before had
been without a successor.
For the
first time, the office of emperor in
the West is left vacant. The eastern
emperor, Zeno,
is
politely informed
that there is no immediate need for
a western colleague. The barbarians
want to place themselves directly
under his wings.
The emperor Zeno at Con–
stantinople considers Augustulus a
usurper. llis choice, Nepos, has fted
to Dalmatia. Though Nepos lives in
exile unti l 480, Rome
is
technically
withoul an emperor, beginning in
476.
A chronicler of the time will real–
ize that somelhing vital and impor–
tan! happens in A.D. 476: "And so
the Western Empire of lhe Roman
people perished with this Augus–
tulus - and from now the Gothic
kings possessed Rome and Italy."
A number of East German tribes
are successful in establishing pow–
erful kingdoms in lands formerly a
part of the Roman Empire. The
Vandals have conquered North Af–
rica; the Visigoths are settled in
southern Gaul and Spain; the Bur–
gundians have carved out a king–
dom in Gaul. The Ostrogoths will
begin to take over ltaly in 489.
Later, the Lombards will invade
and conquer northern and cent ral
ltaly.
All these Germanic kingdoms
make Christian Arianism their state
religion. Tbe terms "Arian" and
36
"Germanic" come to be used inter–
changeably in opposition lo "Ro–
roan" and "Catholic."
The creed of Arianism will spell
the downfall of each of these king–
doms. For in the West, the Catholic
bishops at Rome will withstand
their Arian overlords and seek to be
protected by Catholic rulers. The
Franks are soon to provide that pro–
tection, beginning with a certain
ru–
ler named Clovis.
Years 476-489: ltaly and Odova–
cer. Odovacer is granted the title of
patricius,
as was Ricimer. Thus,
Odovacer rules as a viceroy of the
eastern emperor. He will do so for
thirteen years.
Under Odovacer, Rome enjoys a
period of tranquility such as she has
not known since the death of Mar–
cos Aurelius in A.D. 180. Odovacer
regards his rule as merely a change
in the administration of the rem–
nants of the western part of the ero–
pire. There is but one Roman
Empire, he reasons. Jn theory, there
is no detachment of Italy from the
empire during the rule ofOdovacer.
Years
489-526: Italy and Theo–
doric. Theodoric the Amal, son of
Theodemir, king of the Goths, in–
vades ltaly and defeats Odovacer.
The Ostrogothic empire in Italy has
begun.
Between 488 and 493, Theodoric,
with his 100,000 Ostrogoths, beats
back Odovacer. By a ruse, the Arian
Theodoric, supported by the Catho–
lic clergy in Italy, offers to share the
rule of Italy with Odovacer. The lat–
ter falls for the bait. At a banquet
on March
5,
493, Theodoric raises
his sword and splits Odovacer from
bis collarbone to bis loin in one
stroke, as a fragment from the his–
tory of John of Antioch tells us.
Theodoric now rules all of ltaly.
He will seek the imperial title, but
the eastern emperor Zeno has died.
His successor Anastasius I decides
to keep the title himself. Procopius,
a Byzantine historian of the next
century, will nonetheless eulogize
Theodoric as emperor in fact, "Al–
though he was, as least in name, a
usurper, yet in practice he was as
truly an emperor as any who bore
that title from the beginning of his–
tory. Both the Goths and the Ro–
mans loved
him
greatly.''
lf the Romans love him, the Re–
man church does not.
In
fact, the
bishop of Rome will prove to be the
single most important element in
the barbarian's failure to found a
permanent government in Italy.
Rome has been a predominantly
ecclesiastical city since Constantine
moved from the Roman govern–
ment offices to Constantinople in
the 330's. The head of the religious
community at Rome is the city's
most inftuential personage. The Pa–
triarch of Constantinople, on the
other hand, is overshadowed by the
temporal emperor.
Since church and state are in–
separable according to Catholic doc–
trine, it stands to reason that the
Roman See has become a great po–
litical force in ltaly. Based on this
reality, both Odovacer
~nd
Theo–
doric try to solicit the support and
best wishes of lhe Roman church.
Bul to no avail. Historian J. F. Ber–
nard will point out, "The church
was aware ... that it could gain its
full stature only in the vacuum of
authority created by the absence of
a strong civi l government. The ec–
clesiastical power was, therefore, al–
most of necessity, always inimical to
the civil authority."
In 524, lhe ring begins to close
around Theodoric. The eastern em–
peror issues an imperial command.
All Arían churches throughout lhe
empire are to be handed over to the
Catholics. Naturally, the bishop of
Rome applauds lhe decision. The
Arian Theodoric is forced to retali–
ate. This only serves to unite the
eastern emperor, the Italian Catho–
lics and the Roman bishop.
Paradoxically, the kingdom of
Theodoric is considered a par! of
lhe Roman Empire. Al Rome, the
Senate continues to function. Ro–
mans staff governmental offices.
Only one Goth in ltaly possesses
Roman citizenship - Theodoric.
In fact, historian
J.
B. Bury will
PLAIN TRUTH October 1973