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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Odoacer Biography ODOACER, or ODOVACER (c.435-493). Ruler of Italy from 476 to 493. He was the son of Ędico, a noble of the race of the Rugii or of the Scyri, and saw his first military service probably in the army of Orestes, father of the young Romulus Augustulus, last Emperor of the West. Odoacer perceived the weakness of the new ruler and resolved to profit by it. He had little difficulty in persuading the barbarian soldiery that Italy belonged to them, and in their name demanded of Orestes the third part of the land as the reward of their help. Orestes refused, and Odoacer at the head of his Seyri, Heruli, Rugii, and Turcilingi marched against Pavia, which Orestes had garrisoned, stormed the city, and put his opponent to death (476). Romulus abdicated and withdrew into obscurity. Odoacer showed himself to be wise, moderate, and politic. He took the title of King only and caused the Senate to dispatch to Constantinople a flattering letter, in which it declared one Emperor to be enough for both East and West, renounced its right of appointing the emperors, expressed its confidence in the civil and military talents of Odoacer, and begged Zeno to confer upon him the administration of Italy. After some hesitation the Byzantine Emperor yielded to the entreaties of the Senate, and Odoacer received the title of Patricius. This was formerly taken as the date for the fall of the Western Empire. Odoacer fixed his residence at Ravenna. According to his promise he divided among his companions the third part of the land of Italy--a measure far less unjust than at first sight may seem, for the peninsula was then almost depopulated, and many domains were lying waste. He maintained peace throughout the peninsula and conquered Dalmatia. In matters of religion, though an Arian himself, he acted with great impartiality; nevertheless he was intensely hated by the native Italians. The success of Odoacer excited the jealousy and alarm of Zeno, the Emperor of the East, who encouraged the Ostrogoth King, Theodoric (q.v.), to undertake an expedition against Italy, hoping at the same time to get rid of the Goths, who were a menace to Constantinople. The first battle was fought on the banks of the Isontius (the modern Isonzo) in 489. Odoacer was beaten and retreated. During his retreat he hazarded another battle at Verona and was again beaten. He now hastened to Rome to rouse the inhabitants, but the gates of the city were closed against him. Returning northward to his capital, Ravenna, he reassembled the wrecks of his army and in 490 once more marched against the Ostrogoths, whose advance guard he defeated and pursued to the walls of Pavia. Another great battle now took place on the banks of the Adda, when Odoacer was vanquished for the third time. He now shut himself up in Ravenna, where Theodoric besieged him for three years. Odoacer then capitulated. on condition that the Kingdom of Italy should be shared between him and Theodoric. This agreement was solemnly sworn to by both parties March 5, 493, but on March 15 Odoaccr, invited to a banquet by Theodoric, was killed by the Gothic King's own hand. Consult: Thomas Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, vol. iii (Oxford, 1885); Cambridge Medieval History, vol. i (New York, 1911) ; Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. iv, edited by J. B. Bury (London, 1912). The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XVII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 369. |