Battle of Ravenna (476) 476
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 476 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Germanic Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Western Roman Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 44.4167, 12.2000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Ravenna, capital of the Western Roman Empire, between the Heruli under their King Odoacer and the remnants of the Western Roman army in Roman Italy occurred in early September 476, and represented a culminating event in the ongoing fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire had been in relative decline since the beginning of the barbarian invasions and Rome, the symbolical heart and largest city of the Western Empire, was sacked in 410 by the Visigoths and in 455 by the Vandals. By 476 the Roman emperor was little more than a puppet, having very little de facto control of any territory outside of Italy. The last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was not 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.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Ravenna (476) (revision 1370587277), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Ravenna (1512) 1512 · 0 km
- Battle of Ravenna (729) 729 · 0 km
- Battle of Rimini (432) 432 · 0 km
- Siege of Ravenna (1240) 1240 · 0 km
- Siege of Ravenna (539–540) 539 · 0 km
- Siege of Ravenna (490–493) 490 · 0 km
Other battles of the Germanic Wars
- Frisian revolt of 28 AD AD 28
- Siege of Thessalonica (254) 254
- Battle of Fano 271
- Battle of Pavia (271) 271
- Battle of Placentia (271) 271
- Siege of Autun (356) 356
- Battle of Toulouse (458) 458
- Battle of Bolia 469
All 9 battles of the Germanic Wars →
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