Early History
There are several versions of the origin of Odoacer. Odoacer’s father, who belonged to Attila’s entourage, probably died in a battle in Bolia in the year 469, fighting with Theodimir, the father of Theodoric. This event could be one of the reasons for the enmity of the two future leaders of the barbarian world.
According to legend, craving activities, under the influence of the prophecy of one prophetess about his future greatness, he left the Danube coast, where his people lived, and went to Italy.
Around the year 470, Odoacer entered military service in Italy, and by the year 476 was among the imperial bodyguards.
Rule
When Flavius Orestes, the chief commander of the troops, composed mainly of Germanic mercenaries, expelled Emperor Julius Nepos in August 475 and elevated his own son Romulus Augustulus to emperor, Odoacer was ordered to suppress the insurgency. German mercenaries demanded certain areas for settlement, namely, a third of the land owned by the Romans in Italy. Orestes refused them, and therefore most of the mercenaries went over to the side of Odoacer. In August 476, Odoacer was proclaimed king by his troops. He won at Pavia and killed Orestes on August 23 , thus forcing Romulus Augustulus to give up power. The Eastern Roman Emperor Zeno elevated Odoacer to a patrician and recognized him as Roman governor. He also demanded to formally recognize Julius Nepot as emperor of the western part of the empire, to which Odoacer agreed.
However, Odoacer acted independently. In 477, he lost to the Visigoths.
In the year 480, after the murder of Julius Nepot, Odoacer sent troops into Dalmatia, which had been controlled by Nepot before. This worsened his relationship with the emperor Zeno, despite the fact that Odoacer sent imperial insignia to Constantinople.
Emperor Flavius Zeno decided not to appoint a new emperor in the West, remaining the sole ruler of the empire.
War
Emperor Zeno accused Odoacer of supporting the rebel Illa in 484 and persuaded the Ostrogoth leader Theodoric the Great to attack him. He also persuaded Feleteus to break the alliance with Odoacer. Not everyone shared the idea of war with him: Brother Feleteus Ferderuh, a supporter of peace with Odoacer, was killed by his nephew Friederich under the pretext of revenge for plundering the monastery of St. Severin.
In response to this, Odoacer struck a preemptive strike and in the fall of 487 made a march to Norik and routed the army of the Rugs near the Vienna Woods.
After another campaign in the year 488, led by Odoacer’s brother Gunulf, the Danube state of Rugov was finally destroyed. The remnants of the rugs, led by Friederich, joined the Ostrogoths, recognizing the power of Theodoric the Great over themselves.
But already in the year 488, Odoacer was forced to leave Norik, evacuating the Romanized population to Italy, since the Ostgoths were already approaching the borders of the province.
In 489, Odoacer was divided into the Isonzo, then under Verona , in 490 on the Adde; in Ravenna, he managed to hold out for more than two years. During the war, Odoacer proclaimed his son the emperor. Theodoric the Great entered into a union for joint management with Odoacer ( February 493 ), on these conditions Odoacer ceased resistance, but in March 493 he was killed in Ravenna along with his confidants at a conciliatory feast.
Having set Odoacer in the place of the guest of honor, Theodoric, with a single blow of the sword, cut him from the collarbone to the thigh, saying afterwards: “The unfortunate had no bones in his body.” Odoacer’s brother Gunulf was shot with a bow, his son was executed, and his wife was thrown into prison where she died of starvation. Theodoric justified his act by revenge for the execution of his relatives, Feleteus and Guizot.
Under Odoacer, Italy existed for thirteen years in the conditions of the inner and outer world. In Rome, he had serious support for the Senate and therefore did not meet with serious opposition from the Romans. They were appointed consuls, laws were issued in the style of the Roman emperors. As a result of his reforms, the administrative system of governance in Italy had undergone a number of fundamental changes, where the most prominent one is that barbaric soldiers received land in Italy as federates. Despite the fact that Odoacer was an Arian, he did not persecute Orthodox Christianity.
