August 455, the second sack of Rome was
winding down. The vandals, once one of many tribes between Rhine and Danube were now
in control of the richest province in the west. A multitude of kingdoms appeared
in former imperial territories, the economy was in agony, almost every institution
was in decline, it was a time of change. For the roman leadership every
action was now a fight for survival. After a month of interregnum, the next emperor
was to be Avitus. With visigothic support, he was proclaimed augustus and entered Rome.
This man soon grew unpopular. Being from the gallic nobility and promoting the latter, he
was not truly recognized by the italians. Plus, having difficulties to pay his goths, he used the
bronze from public buildings to do it. During his rule, a germanic high officer named Ricimer,
drove out the vandals from sicily and corsica, victories for which, he became, magister militum.
Profiting from the discontent, the general revolted alongside a colleague named majorian. The
visigoths were in hispania fighting against the suebians, thus Avitus met Majorian and Ricimer in
battle alone. Of those three veterans of Aetius, Avitus lost and was deposed. Taking advantage of
the situation, an alamanic army crossed the Alps., Majorian intercepted and defeated them. After
that, he became, the western emperor. Earlier that year saw an imperial succession in the east
as well, the powerful general Aspar chose Leo as the new head of state. The eastern
emperor recognized the elevation of Majorian. In southern italy, vandalic troops were pillaging
the countryside, Majorian expelled them from the peninsula. He was energetic, talented and
determined to fight against the odds of his time. He took several actions to make
taxation fairer and more efficient while regaining the trust of both gallic and
italian aristocracies by promoting the two. With the heart of the empire secured, Majorian,
despite the treasury being almost empty managed to recruit an army of federati troops while
rebuilding a navy. Crossing the Alps into Gaul, he crushed the visigoths who submitted to
imperial power. Going north, he reconquered the Burgundian occupied city of Lugdunum. Those
victories allowed him to solidify Roman positions and firmly reconnect with the gallic territories.
In Hyspania, Roman control of the province was reasserted. After that, imperial troops
fought a successful campaign against the Suebians. The final goal of the emperor was, of course,
the reconquest of Africa. To achieve it, he prepared his fleet, aiming to strike at
the heart of the problem. Geiseric knew what was coming, his enemy threatened to put an
end to his kingdom. In a surprise attack, while preparations were still ongoing, the vandals
destroyed the roman fleet. This defeat dealt a severe blow to Majorians plans, and he returned to
Italy. While the emperor was campaigning, Ricimer, disgruntled by the fact that he wasn’t able to
control the emperor, had been plotting against Majorian. The more power the Augustus exercised,
the less influence his Magister Millitum had. Majorian, not knowing about the plot, was captured
and later executed. Such an event was heavy of consequence, during the following years, the
reconquests of Majorian were all rolled back. In the Balkans, the Ostrogoths attacked
Illyricum and, to reach peace terms, extracted tribute from the eastern romans.
Ricimer wanted a puppet emperor on the throne, one that would allow him to be the man in charge.
After a few months, he chose Libius Severus. Aegidius and Marcellinus, two roman generals
loyal to Majorian seceded from central authority. Ricimer decided to take action against the
former, asking the Visigoths to attack him. At Aurelianum, the gallic romans and their
frankish allies repelled the invaders. The vandals for their part, resumed their
attacks, ceasing the Mediterranean islands. When Libius Severus died, there was more than
a year of interregnum. No emperor was appointed during this period and Ricimer ruled over
Italy in the name of the eastern Augustus. Leo put forward his own candidate,
Anthemius. Once this man arrived in Italy, Ricimer accepted the new ruler. With Ravenna
and Constantinople once again on good terms, the eastern emperor invested
large amounts of resources for a massive expedition against the Vandals. This
large scale military operation had 3 components. The southern army arrived in Tripolitania
and made progress. The northern flank, led by the westerners, reconquered the
islands. The main force arrived in Africa, but, due to a severe strategic blunder, the
fleet was ambushed by Geiseric and suffered massive casualties. The surviving troops
retreated and the expedition was aborted. With the failure of such an expensive operation,
no longer would the east directly intervene. The western Romans were now on their own. During his reign, Leo created a new palace
guard, the excubitors. But his main concern was the dominance of military commanders
of barbarian origins such as Aspar. He reduced their influence by recruiting many
Isaurians from the Anatolian mountains. One of them, Zeno discovered that Ardabur, son of
Aspar, had been sending letters to the Sassanians, inviting them to invade. After he reported
this to Leo, Zeno married his daughter Ariadne. Aspar, of course, was discontented by the gradual
isaurian replacement. But in 471, he and his son were killed. The strongest general in the
empire was now, without any doubt, Zeno. The failed anti-vandal expedition did
not discourage Anthemius who launched a restoration campaign in Gaul. But it came
to nothing, the goths and their new kings repelled the romans. By that time, relations
between Ricimer and Anthemius became hostile. Some semblance of stability was maintained for a
time, before Ricimer marched on Rome and elevated Olybrius as emperor. After a siege, his army
entered the city and killed Anthemius. Ricimer would not long outlive him, he died weeks later.
Olybrius reigned for only a few months. After him came Glycerius. Italy was threatened by both
branches of the goths. First, a visigothic army was pushed back, then, an ostrogothic
invasion was neutralized through bribes. Leo did not recognize the new western Augustus
and decided to support Julius Nepos instead. The latter marched on Italy from Dalmatia. Glycerius
decided to abdicate and was exiled in Salona. Leo died during this time and his right hand man,
Zeno, became co-emperor alongside his son Leo II. Nepos’ efforts in Gaul allowed Rome to
maintain control over Arles for a time. But his replacement of the former Magister
Millitum of the province by Orestes was a mistake. This man soon rebelled
against the emperor and Nepos fled to Dalmatia. Orestes decided to put his own
son, Romulus Augustulus on the imperial throne. In the eastern capital, Zeno learned
about a plot in which he was the target. It was initiated by Verina, widow of Leo and
Basiliscus, the commander of the failed expedition against the vandals. Seeking safety, he left
Constantinople. Thus, Basiliscus seized power, slaughtered the Isaurians in the capital
and elevated his son Marcus as co-emperor. Illus was sent to capture Zeno. But
soon, Basilliscus’ popularity fell apart. First because he increased taxes and second,
because he bent toward monophysitism. The opposite happened to Zeno who regained
support and, after Illus rallied to his side, returned to Constantinople and secured his
throne. In Italy, Orestes was killed by a rebellious commander named Odoacer. The victor
went to meet the young Romulus Augustulus and deposed him from the imperial position. He
sent the imperial regalia to Constantinople, declaring the end of the succession line
in Italy. Along with that, he symbolically submitted to the authority of the eastern
emperor. Zeno accepted this state of affairs, but requested from Odacer the recognition of
Julius Nepos as western emperor. Geiseric, a man who had reigned as king of the vandals
for 50 years, finally died. With Attila, Alaric and many others who came before, he immortalized
himself as one of the greatest enemies of Rome. The dissolution of the hunnic realm drove some
goths to migrate inside the empire. Thus, two men, Theodoric Strabo, imperial official and leader
of the Thracian goths and Theodoric the Amal, leader of the Pannonian goths who had
lived a former hostage in Constantinople were a constant source of problems for Zeno. He attempted to turn them against each other
several times. Notably asking the Amal to attack Strabo with the promise of Roman assistance.
This operation never truly materialised. Marcian, son of the former western Augustus
Anthemius and grandson of former eastern Augustus, also named Marcian, revolted against
Zeno. After some fighting in the capital, his usurpation was quelled. He was exiled in
Cappadocia. But once there, he continued to be a problem and managed to revolt a second time.
Nevertheless, his second rebellion was put down. Theodoric Strabo had supported Marcian, now he
was actively fighting against imperial forces. He tried to besiege Constantinople for a short
time, seeing that success was unattainable, Strabo retreated while vengefully pillaging
the countryside. Unfortunately for the goth, this is where he died in an accident. The thracian
goths were no longer a problem, but some of them joined the Amal. The remaining Theodoric
spent the following years invading greece. After the deposition of Romulus, Julius Nepos,
who had remained emperor and ruler in Dalmatia, was assassinated by members of his
court. Odoacer took over the province. The council of Chalcedon had largely divided the
christian population of the empire in two main groups. The Chalcedonians supported the council,
while the monophysites rejected it. Zeno’s concern was to reunite these two groups. With Acacius,
patriarch of Constantinople, he produced the Henotikon. This document was made to reconcile
both religious views, but it did not satisfy everyone. The pope Felix III rejected it and
started the Acacian schism with Constantinople. Illus, the Isaurian general, was one of
the main political figures in the capital. However he had never really been on good terms
with the emperor. He became the target of multiple assassination attempts conducted by Verina. The
latter was taken prisoner in the east for her actions. But even then, the plots continued. Illus
decided to defect and start his own rebellion while keeping Verina prisoner. He promoted to
the throne, a man named Leontius. After some initial successes against Zeno, the usurper's
army was defeated by a romano-ostrogothic force which included Theodoric. After a long siege
in Cilicia, Leontius and Illus were killed. In Gaul, the coronation of a new king, Clovis,
ended cordial relations between Syagrius and the franks. In 486, at the battle of Soissons, the
last stronghold of roman resistance was conquered. Zenos and Theodorics rivalry
was drawing no conclusion. When hostilities restarted, the eastern emperor
was looking for a clear solution. As relations between Zeno and Odoacer had declined, the former
asked Theodoric to invade Italy. This offer was gladly accepted by the king. Entering the
peninsula, Theodoric won several battles and, after an extended siege of Ravenna,
killed Odoacer, and conquered Italy. For his part, having reigned through constant
upheaval, Zeno died, seemingly, from an illness. By the end of the fifth century, imperial
power completely disappeared in the western mediterranean. Some military leaders had
attempted several resurgences of power, and had succeeded to a degree, Majorian
incarnated this effort. Despite this, after centuries of decline, Rome had finally fallen. New
kingdoms had formed to replace it and would now be the main actors of western Europe’s history. As
dramatic of a fall it was for their civilization, the Romans now looked east. The turbulent past
decades gave way to a new era, Constantinople and its empire continued their existence and
were about to experience a new golden age.
