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Odoacer
Odoacer (c. 433 – 15 March 493 AD), also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a barbarian soldier and statesman from the Middle Danube who deposed the Western Roman child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became the ruler of Italy (476–493). Odoacer's overthrow of Romulus Augustulus is traditionally understood as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire.
Although he ruled Italy, Odoacer styled himself a client of the Eastern emperor Zeno in Constantinople. He was addressed not only as Latin: rex but also as dux and patrician, the latter title granted by Zeno. In the sole surviving document from his chancery—and by the consul Basilius—Odoacer used the title of king. Backed by the Roman Senate, he distributed land with little resistance. Soldier unrest in 477–478 caused violence, but his later reign was stable. Though an Arian, he seldom interfered in the Trinitarian state church.
Before becoming king, Odoacer led the revolt of Herulian, Rugian, and Scirian troops that deposed Romulus Augustulus on 4 September 476. The boy-emperor, elevated by his father Orestes less than a year earlier, never gained authority beyond central Italy. With senatorial support, Odoacer then ruled autonomously while formally recognizing both Julius Nepos and Zeno. After Nepos’s murder in 480, Odoacer invaded Dalmatia, executed the conspirators, and annexed the region within two years.
In 484, when Illus, Eastern magister militum, sought his aid against Zeno, Odoacer invaded the emperor’s western provinces. Zeno retaliated by spurring the Rugii to attack Italy, but Odoacer crushed them north of the Danube in 487–488. To end the conflict, Zeno unleashed the Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great, who invaded in 489, seized most of Italy by 490, and forced Odoacer into Ravenna. After the city surrendered on 5 March 493, Theodoric invited him to a reconciliation banquet, where he murdered Odoacer and claimed the throne.
The origin of the name Odoacer, which may give indications as to his tribal affiliation, is debated. It is however traditionally derived from the Germanic components *auda (luck, possession, wealth) and *wakra (awake, vigilant, lively). It is not clear from which branch of the Germanic language family it is derived. In favour of this etymology, this form has a cognate in another Germanic language, the titular Eadwacer of the Old English poem Wulf and Eadwacer (where Old English renders the earlier Germanic sound au- as ea-).
However, historians Robert L. Reynolds and Robert S. Lopez explored the possibility that the name Odoacer was not Germanic, making several arguments that his ethnic background might lie elsewhere. They argue that no convincing Germanic etymology has been found for the name Odoacer; instead, they propose that it could be a form of the Turkic "Ot-toghar" ("grass-born" or "fire-born"), or the shorter form "Ot-ghar" ("herder"). There is also debate regarding the etymology of Edeco, the apparent name of Odoacer's father. Omeljan Pritsak considered it Turkic; others such as Peter Heather continue to consider it Germanic.
The name of Odoacer's apparent brother, Hunulf or Onulf, is generally accepted to be Germanic "Hun wolf". Reynolds and Lopez emphasized that the first part, "hun", although the meaning is uncertain, may refer to the Huns. Odoacer's son is given two different names in ancient sources, Thelan and Oklan. Reynolds and Lopez compare these to Turkic names: "Thelan resembles the name borne by the khagan of the eastern Turks, Tulan, who reigned from 587 to 600 A.D. Oklan resembles closely the Turkish-Tatar word oghlan, 'youth' ".
The assumption that the etymology of Odoacer's name can be used to determine his ancestry or language has been criticized by historians and philologists such as Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen and Walter Pohl, who have pointed out that Germanic-speakers used Hunnic names in this period and region, and vice versa. As emphasized by Pohl, the same person could be considered Hunnic or Germanic under different circumstances, especially during the upheavals after Attila's death, and "the ruling class of Attila's empire continued to influence tribal politics even after its collapse".
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Odoacer
Odoacer (c. 433 – 15 March 493 AD), also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar, was a barbarian soldier and statesman from the Middle Danube who deposed the Western Roman child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became the ruler of Italy (476–493). Odoacer's overthrow of Romulus Augustulus is traditionally understood as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire.
Although he ruled Italy, Odoacer styled himself a client of the Eastern emperor Zeno in Constantinople. He was addressed not only as Latin: rex but also as dux and patrician, the latter title granted by Zeno. In the sole surviving document from his chancery—and by the consul Basilius—Odoacer used the title of king. Backed by the Roman Senate, he distributed land with little resistance. Soldier unrest in 477–478 caused violence, but his later reign was stable. Though an Arian, he seldom interfered in the Trinitarian state church.
Before becoming king, Odoacer led the revolt of Herulian, Rugian, and Scirian troops that deposed Romulus Augustulus on 4 September 476. The boy-emperor, elevated by his father Orestes less than a year earlier, never gained authority beyond central Italy. With senatorial support, Odoacer then ruled autonomously while formally recognizing both Julius Nepos and Zeno. After Nepos’s murder in 480, Odoacer invaded Dalmatia, executed the conspirators, and annexed the region within two years.
In 484, when Illus, Eastern magister militum, sought his aid against Zeno, Odoacer invaded the emperor’s western provinces. Zeno retaliated by spurring the Rugii to attack Italy, but Odoacer crushed them north of the Danube in 487–488. To end the conflict, Zeno unleashed the Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great, who invaded in 489, seized most of Italy by 490, and forced Odoacer into Ravenna. After the city surrendered on 5 March 493, Theodoric invited him to a reconciliation banquet, where he murdered Odoacer and claimed the throne.
The origin of the name Odoacer, which may give indications as to his tribal affiliation, is debated. It is however traditionally derived from the Germanic components *auda (luck, possession, wealth) and *wakra (awake, vigilant, lively). It is not clear from which branch of the Germanic language family it is derived. In favour of this etymology, this form has a cognate in another Germanic language, the titular Eadwacer of the Old English poem Wulf and Eadwacer (where Old English renders the earlier Germanic sound au- as ea-).
However, historians Robert L. Reynolds and Robert S. Lopez explored the possibility that the name Odoacer was not Germanic, making several arguments that his ethnic background might lie elsewhere. They argue that no convincing Germanic etymology has been found for the name Odoacer; instead, they propose that it could be a form of the Turkic "Ot-toghar" ("grass-born" or "fire-born"), or the shorter form "Ot-ghar" ("herder"). There is also debate regarding the etymology of Edeco, the apparent name of Odoacer's father. Omeljan Pritsak considered it Turkic; others such as Peter Heather continue to consider it Germanic.
The name of Odoacer's apparent brother, Hunulf or Onulf, is generally accepted to be Germanic "Hun wolf". Reynolds and Lopez emphasized that the first part, "hun", although the meaning is uncertain, may refer to the Huns. Odoacer's son is given two different names in ancient sources, Thelan and Oklan. Reynolds and Lopez compare these to Turkic names: "Thelan resembles the name borne by the khagan of the eastern Turks, Tulan, who reigned from 587 to 600 A.D. Oklan resembles closely the Turkish-Tatar word oghlan, 'youth' ".
The assumption that the etymology of Odoacer's name can be used to determine his ancestry or language has been criticized by historians and philologists such as Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen and Walter Pohl, who have pointed out that Germanic-speakers used Hunnic names in this period and region, and vice versa. As emphasized by Pohl, the same person could be considered Hunnic or Germanic under different circumstances, especially during the upheavals after Attila's death, and "the ruling class of Attila's empire continued to influence tribal politics even after its collapse".