Battle of Ravenna (476)
in Ravenna, ItalyCategory: Attraction
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Via Mario Gordini, 7, 48121 Ravenna RA, Italy Print route »
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The Battle of Ravenna took place on 2 September 476 and was a minor confrontation between the Heruli under their King Odoacer and the remnants of the Western Roman Army in Italy. The Roman Empire had been in relative decline until 455 when the Vandals sacked Rome effectively destroying the empire. By 476 the Roman Emperor was little more than a warlord having very little de facto control of any territory outside of Italy. The last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was not even recognized as a legitimate ruler outside of Italy; the Eastern Roman Empire recognized Julius Nepos as the true Western Roman Emperor.Herulians were foederati of the Western Roman Empire; they were mercenary troops of the Roman Army of Italy. They envied the fortune of their brethren in Gaul, Spain, and Africa, whose victorious arms had acquired an independent and perpetual inheritance; and they insisted that a third part of the lands of Italy should be immediately divided among them. Orestes, the father of Emperor Romulus Augustus, rejected their demand - causing their revolt. From all the camps and garrisons of Italy the confederates flocked to the standard of Odoacer, their leader; Orestes later retreated to Pavia. Pavia was subsequently pillaged and Orestes was executed.The decisive battle was fought near Ravenna, the capital of the Western Roman Empire: it saw the Foederati defeat the largely depleted Roman garrison. The city was captured swiftly and easily. Two days later, the sixteen year old Emperor Romulus Augustulus was forced to abdicate by Odoacer, ending twelve-hundred years of Roman rule in Italy beginning with the Roman Kingdom in 753 BC. Romulus was sent into retirement in Campania.
