Orestes (father of Romulus Augustulus)

For other uses, see Orestes (disambiguation).

Orestes^[1] (died 28 August AD 476) was a Roman general and politician, who was briefly in control of the Western Roman Empire in 475–6.

Early life

Born an aristocrat of Pannonia Savia, Orestes was probably at least partly of Germanic descent. He was son of Tatulus, a pagan, and son-in-law to Romulus who served as comes in the Western Roman Empire. After Pannonia was ceded to Attila the Hun, Orestes joined Attila's court, reaching high position as a secretary (notarius) in 449 and 452. In 449 Orestes was sent by Attila twice to Constantinople as envoy to Emperor Valentinian III.

In 475, Orestes was appointed magister militum and patricius by Western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos. This proved to be a mistake on the part of Nepos. By August 28, 475, Orestes, at the head of the foederati, managed to take control of the government in Ravenna, which had acted as the capital of the Western Roman Empire since 402. Julius Nepos fled without a fight to Dalmatia, where he would continue to reign until his assassination in 480. With the emperor far away, Orestes elevated his son Romulus to the rank of Augustus, so that the last Western Roman emperor is known as Romulus Augustulus meaning "little Augustus" as the emperor was only a 12 year old boy.

Short reign

The new administration was not recognized by the rival Eastern Roman Emperors Zeno and Basiliscus, who still considered Julius Nepos to be their legitimate partner in the administration of the Empire. But as they were engaged in a civil war with each other, neither emperor was about to oppose Orestes in battle.

Orestes was free to issue new solidi in the mints of Arles, Milan, Ravenna and Rome, enabling him to pay the barbarian mercenaries who constituted most of the contemporary Roman Army.

However Orestes denied the demands of Heruli, Scirian and Torcilingi mercenaries to be granted Italian lands in which to settle. The dissatisfied mercenaries revolted under the Germanic chieftain Odoacer, whom they declared to be their king on August 23, 476. Odoacer led them against their former employer. Orestes was captured near Piacenza on August 28 and was swiftly executed. Within weeks, Ravenna was captured and Romulus Augustus was deposed, the event that has been traditionally considered the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

In popular culture

• Orestes was played by Andrew Pleavin in the 2001 miniseries Attila, which depicts his time in service of the Hunnic king.

• The character of Orestes was played by Iain Glen in the 2007 historical-fiction film The Last Legion, which shows the character during his period of rule in Rome, although the film deviates significantly from the historical record of these events.

See also

• Roman usurper
• List of Roman usurpers

References

1. ^ No other names are known, according to J.R. Martindale The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire vol.II p.811-812. Cambridge University Press, 1980

External links

• Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire part v, chapter xxxvi