Flavius Romulus Augustus was born in 463 and was the son of Orestes who was the commanding general of the Roman army.
After turning on Emperor Nepos, Orestes elevated his son Romulus to the throne in 475 as he himself was unable to rule due to being a Germanic tribesman. As Romulus was little more than a child it was his father who ruled through him. He made no decisions and though coins were issued in his name, no monument was erected to honour him.
No emperor in the East accepted his rule and he was largely shunned. Mercenaries approached his father demanding land and when he refused they had him executed. One mercenary captured the city of Ravenna and forced the young emperor to leave the throne and from that point in time it would be Germans who would dominate the Roman armies.
Records state that Romulus lived but cannot agree with what became of him following his abdication.
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Julius Nepos was born in 430 and was given power over the western empire by his “uncle in –law” to end the reign of Glycerius. As Leo was officially the sole emperor he had the rightful power to choose who he wished to divide his empire with.
Nepos reigned from 474 over the Italian region and several adjoining areas. During his reign he tried to consolidate as much of the empire as possible which included regaining the region of Gaul currently in the hands of the Visigoths in exchange for several minor regions. Unfortunately he was unable to negotiate with the vandals as they continued to launch attacks off the coast of Italy.
Nepos was a very capable emperor but considered unpopular by the Roman senate because of his close ties with Leo and the eastern empire. Next he made the unfortunate mistake of electing Orestes as his commanding general who later turned on Nepos taking control of the government and troops forcing him to flee home to Dalmatia.
He continued to rule in Dalmatia until he was murdered by his soldiers in 480.
Glycerius was born in 420 and was a member of the imperial court before his rise to power. Following the death of Olybrius he was chosen to ascend the throne in 473 but as with other emperors was not recognised by the Emperor of the eastern empire, Leo.
During his reign there were several battles against both the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths. Following the invasion of Gaul by the Ostrogoths Glycerius sent the roman army into the area and managed to prevent two branches of Goths from joining together attacking Rome as one.
Rather than stand by and refuse to accept this emperor as ruler, Leo the emperor of the eastern empire appointed Julius Nepos to the position of emperor of the west and provided him with a powerful army. Nepos led his army to the port city of Ostia near Rome in 474 where Glycerius happened to be residing and soon Glycerius surrendered to Nepos. He was allowed to continue living and two years later the two men met again and at that time Nepos had been deserted by his troops and was forced to flee to the same area that he had sent Glycerius previously.
The date of Glycerius’ death is unknown.
Anicius Olybrius was a member of a noble roman family and in 464 was made consul and married Placidia the daughter of the previous Emperor Valentinian III. In 461 and 465 Geiseric, the father in law of Placidia’s older sister, attempted to have Olybrius made Emperor but it seems that Olybrius wasn’t interested in the power or fame.
Leo, the Emperor of the East, requested that Olybrius go to Italy in 472 to assist the emperor Anthemius against retaliation from his son in law Ricimer. Olybrius and Ricimer entered into negotiations and it was following this that he was proclaimed emperor against his will. Anthemius was killed a short time later and Olybrius took over the throne without any rival.
Later that year he died of natural causes ending his otherwise uneventful reign.
Procopius Anthemius was born in 420 and was the first Emperor of the West to be acknowledged by Leo I the Emperor of the East.
He also had several men of notable power pledge their allegiance including Ricimer, a powerful military figure who eventually married the daughter of Anthemius. Marcellinus was a general who had proved troublesome for some emperors in the past supported Anthemius as did Riothamus who joined his Romano-British army with that of the Roman Empires’. They marched on to battle Euric but were quickly defeated as were the fleet of Roman ships destroyed by the incompetence of the navy leader Basiliscus. Anthemius also lost the skill and power held by Marcellinus when the man was murdered.
In 470 Anthemius became dangerously sick and believing it to be the handy work of sorcery and became vengeful towards many prominent political figures who Anthemius believed to hold a grudge against him. Ricimer quickly tired of his antics and after banding together 6000 of his own soldiers he waged war on Anthemius and eventually would capture and execute the emperor.
Libius Severus was elevated to emperor by Ricimer following the death of Majorian in 461. As was the case with Majorian, Leo the emperor of the East refused to acknowledge Severus as having any power. Many historians state that Severus was like a puppet belonging to Ricimer but these claims cannot be substantiated as there is no record of anything being done during the reign that Severus held. A series of coins that were minted did have Ricimers’ monogram on the back but there is very little to show for his time in power.
He died in 465 either of natural causes or was poisoned by Ricimer, and following his death was replaced by Anthemius.
Iulius Valerius Maiorianus was born in 420 and was a capable general of the Roman army and had several victories over the Franks and the Alemanni.
Following the deposition of ruler Avitus, Majorian was declared emperor by a Regent named Ricimer but this did not sit well with Emperor Leo who was based in Constantinople and saw Majorian as a usurper.
Following a battle with King Theodoric of the Visigoths and then forming an allegiance with him, he set out to join his navy fleet but the King of Vandals attacked destroying most ships and taking others.
Peace was made with the King of Vandals but Majorians reputation had been ruined and the soldiers mutinied led by Ricimer. Five days later Majorian died of either dysentery or physical violence.
Marcus Maecilius Flavius Eparchius Avitus was born in 395 and was named Master of Soldiers by Emperor Petronius Maximus. It was Emperor Maximus who sent Avitus on a friendly mission to seek allegiance with Theodoric II, the King of the Visigoths but upon his arrival Avitus would learn that the Vandals had invaded Rome and that Maximus had been killed. Theodoric persuaded Avitus to take the place of the former emperor and by 455 his soldiers had proclaimed him emperor and he arrived back at Rome that year to make the claim official.
The roman people were never satisfied with Avitus as ruler and following a failed campaign against the Vandals and famine ravaging the empire a revolt was led by Ricimer and Majorian.
Avitus fled and attempted to raise an army with which to fight for his position bur was defeated and captured. Though his life was spared he attempted to escape to Gaul but he died on the way there.
Petronius Maximus was born in 396 and was a roman aristocrat of senatorial rank.
He gradually worked his way up the political ladder and arrived at the position of Consul in 433 and then went on to become the Praetorian Prefect of Italy in 439. In 445 he became the most honoured of all non-imperial Romans when he was given the title Patrician until Aëtius stepped in. From that point in time there was great hostility between the two and while some records claim that it was only Valentinian who had Aëtius murdered in 454, other records show that Maximus was also behind the conspiracy.
After Valentinians’ death, Maximus would fight of several others for the position of power including Majorian who would eventually become emperor anyway.
While having just sent soldiers led by Avitus out on an expedition to gain support from the Visigoths, it was heard that the King of the Vandals had invaded Italy and as a part of all the commotion that was stirred in Rome, Maximus was stoned to death.
Flavius Placidius Valentinianus was born in 419 and was the only son of Constantius III.
Following the death of his father in 421, he and both his mother and sister, all moved to Constantinople which was currently under the rule of Honorius.
Two years later Honorius died and Theodosius had Valentinian elevated to the position of Caesar in order to control the west and would have him marry his daughter when he had gained a few years. At the age of 6, Valentinian became the emperor of the western empire.
During his reign much of the empire was lost, this included Africa being claimed by the Vandals, the abandonment of Britain, barbarians taking over great amounts of both Spain and Gaul, and Sicily being ravaged.
The reign however was also marked by His victory over Attila the Hun in 451 and multiple campaigns against the Visigoths which were all successful.
It was Valentinians’ murder of Aëtius in 454, the general who led the battle over Attila that was his down fall. A year later while the emperor was in Rome, two barbarian followers of Aëtius assassinated him and his position as emperor was quickly claimed by a wealthy senator named Petrinus Maximus.