Odoacer

Flavius Odoacer[a] (/ˌoʊdoʊˈeɪsər/ OH-doh-AY-sər;[b] c. 433 – 15

Flavius Odoacer
March 493 AD), also spelled Odovacer or Odovacar,[c] was a
soldier and statesman of barbarian background, who deposed the Rex/Dux
child emperor Romulus Augustulus and became Rex/Dux (476– Patricius
493). Odoacer's overthrow of Romulus Augustulus is traditionally
seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire as well as
Ancient Rome.[d]

Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he represented

himself as the client of the emperor in Constantinople, Zeno.
Odoacer often used the Roman honorific patrician, granted by
Zeno, but was referred to as a king (Latin: rex) or duke (Latin:
dux) in many documents, so is not clear which was his actual
charge. He himself used the title of king in the only surviving
official document that emanated from his chancery, and it was also
used by the consul Basilius.[1][e] Odoacer introduced few
important changes into the administrative system of Italy. He had
the support of the Roman Senate and was able to distribute land to Coin of Odoacer minted in
Ravenna, 477, with Odoacer in
his followers without much opposition. Unrest among his warriors
profile, depicted with a "barbarian"
led to violence in 477–478, but no such disturbances occurred moustache
during the later period of his reign. Although Odoacer was an
King of Italy
Arian Christian, he rarely intervened in the affairs of the Trinitarian
state church of the Roman Empire. Reign 4 September 476 –
15 March 493
Likely of East Germanic descent, Odoacer was a military leader in Successor Theodoric the Great
Italy who led the revolt of Herulian, Rugian, and Scirian soldiers
that deposed Romulus Augustulus on 4 September AD 476. Born c. 433[1]
(Eleven-year-old Augustulus had been declared Western Roman
Western Roman
Emperor by his father Orestes, the rebellious general of the army in
Empire
Italy, less than a year before, but had been unable to gain
allegiance or recognition beyond central Italy.) With the backing of Died 15 March 493 (aged
the Roman Senate, Odoacer thenceforth ruled Italy autonomously, 60)
paying lip service to the authority of Julius Nepos, the previous Ravenna, Kingdom of
Western emperor, and Zeno, the emperor of the East. Upon Italy
Nepos's murder in 480 Odoacer invaded Dalmatia, to punish the
Spouse Sunigilda
murderers. He did so, executing the conspirators, but within two
years also conquered the region and incorporated it into his Issue Thela
domain. Father Edeko

When Illus, master of soldiers of the Eastern Empire, asked for Religion Arianism
Odoacer's help in 484 in his struggle to depose Zeno, Odoacer
invaded Zeno's westernmost provinces. The emperor responded first by inciting the Rugii of present-day
Austria to attack Italy. During the winter of 487–488 Odoacer crossed the Danube and defeated the Rugii
in their own territory. Zeno also appointed the Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great, who was menacing the
borders of the Eastern Empire, to be king of Italy, turning one troublesome ally against another. Theodoric
invaded Italy in 489 and by August 490 had captured almost the entire peninsula, forcing Odoacer to take
refuge in Ravenna. The city surrendered on 5 March 493. Theodoric invited Odoacer to a banquet of
reconciliation; instead of forging an alliance, Theodoric killed the unsuspecting king.

Contents
Ethnicity
Onomastic and other evidence
Before Italy
Leader of the foederati
King of Italy
Fall and death
Modern media portrayal
See also
Notes
References
Sources
Further reading

Ethnicity
Except for the fact that he was not considered Roman, Odoacer's precise ethnic origins are not known.[f]
Some scholars believe his origins lie in the multi-ethnic empire of Attila. Most scholars consider him to be
at least partly of Germanic descent, while others argue he was entirely Germanic. Early medieval sources
such as Theophanes called him a Goth.[4] Likewise, the 6th century chronicler Marcellinus Comes called
him "king of the Goths" (Odoacer rex Gothorum).[g]

Jordanes associated him with several of the East Germanic tribes of the Middle Danube who had arrived
there during the time of Attila's empire, including the Sciri, Heruli, and Rugii. In several passages he named
him king of the Turcilingi, which is a people, or perhaps a dynasty, that is mentioned by no other historical
source. Modern historians also propose connections with Goths, Huns or the Thuringii. While in one
passage in his Getica, Jordanes describes Odoacer as king of the Turcilingi (Torcilingorum rex) with Scirian
and Heruli followers.[5] In another passage (LVII.291), Jordanes mentions Italy during Odoacer's reign
being under the tyranny of Turcilingi and Rogii. In his Romana, the same author defines Odoacer as a
descendant of the Rugii (or of a person named Rogus, Odoacer genere Rogus) with Turcilingi, Scirian and
Heruli followers.[h] It has been pointed out that Attila had an uncle of the name Rogus and suggested that
Odoacer may have been his descendant.[6]

In a fragment from a history of Priscus, reproduced by John of Antioch, Odoacer is described as a man of
the Sciri, the son of Edeco, and brother of Hunuulf who killed Armatus in the eastern Roman
empire.[6][7][i][j]

Much later, a memorial plate from 1521 found in the catacombe Chapel of St Maximus in Petersfriedhof—
the burial site of St Peter's Abbey in Salzburg (Austria)—mentions Odoacer as King of "Rhutenes" or
"Rhutenians" (Latin: Rex Rhvtenorvm), who invaded Noricum in 477. Due to its very late date of 1521 and
several anachronistic elements, the content of that plate is considered nothing more than a legend.[12] In
spite of that, the plate has become a popular "source" for several theorists that try to connect Odoacer with
ancient Celtic Ruthenes, and also with later Slavic Ruthenians.[13] As noted by professor Paul R. Magocsi,
those theories should be regarded as "inventive tales" of "creative" writers and nothing more.[14]

Many historians, such as medieval scholar Michael Frasetto, accept that Odoacer was of Scirian
heritage.[15] Scholars are still to some extent divided about the evidence for Odoacer's father being a Hun,
and also about the identity of the Turcilingi. There is some doubt about whether the name has been reported
correctly by Jordanes, and whether they, and even the Sciri, were Germanic.[16] Historian Bruce Macbain
notes that the "ancient sources exhibit considerable confusion over Odovacer's tribal affiliation", but in
point of fact none of them calls Odoacer a Hun.[17] Historian Penny MacGeorge argues that Odoacer was
likely half-Scirian and half-Thuringian.[18] Historian Patrick Amory explains that "Odoacer is called a
Scirian, a Rugian, a Goth or a Thuringian in sources; his father is called a Hun, his mother a Scirian.
Odoacer's father Edeco was associated first with the Huns under Attila, and then with a group called Sciri,
an ethnographic name that appears intermittently in fifth-century sources."[19] This line of reasoning is also
picked up on by historian Erik Jensen, who avows that Odoacer was born to a Gothic mother and that his
father Edeco was a Hun.[20]

Onomastic and other evidence

The origin of the name Odoacer, which may give indications as to

his tribal affiliation, is debated. One suggestion is that Odoacer is
derived from the Germanic *Audawakraz (Gothic *Audawakrs),
from aud- "wealth" and wakr- "vigilant" or, combined, "watcher of
the wealth."[21] This form finds a cognate in another Germanic
language, the titular Eadwacer of the Old English poem Wulf and Latin memorial plate from 1521, that
Eadwacer (where Old English renders the earlier Germanic sound mentions Odoacer as Rex
au- as ea-).[22] On the other hand, historians Robert L. Reynolds Rhutenorum (Petersfriedhof,
and Robert S. Lopez explored the possibility that the name Salzburg)
Odoacer was not Germanic, making several arguments that his
ethnic background might lie elsewhere. One of these is that his
name, "Odoacer", for which they claimed an etymology in Germanic languages had not been convincingly
found, could be a form of the Turkish "Ot-toghar" ("grass-born" or "fire-born"), or the shorter form "Ot-
ghar" ("herder").[23] Reynolds and Lopez's thesis was criticized by Otto J. Maenschen-Helfen, who
pointed out the speciousness of their etymological analysis, since names between Germans and Huns were
being used reciprocally.[24] Moreover, there is an often ignored fragment in the Suda that was almost
certainly written by the well-informed contemporary, Malchus, who identified Odoacer as a Thuringian.[25]
Finally, a passage from Eugippius' Life of Saint Severinus indicated that Odoacer was so tall that he had to
bend down to pass through the doorway, which Macbain consider another strong argument that he was
unlikely to have been a Hun, since they were not known to be tall.[26]

Before Italy
Possibly the earliest recorded incident involving Odoacer is from a fragment of a chronicle preserved in the
History of the Franks of Gregory of Tours. Two different chapters of his work mention military leaders
with Odoacer's name, using two different spellings and involving two different regions.[27]

In the first mention, a confused or confusing report is given of a number of battles fought by
King Childeric I of the Franks, Aegidius, Count Paul, and one "Adovacrius" (with an "a") who
was leading a group of Saxons based at the mouth of the Loire.[27] Though there is no
 consensus, some historians, such as Reynolds and Lopez, have suggested that this
Adovacrius may be the same person as the future king of Italy.[23]
In a second mention by Gregory of Tours, an Odovacrius (with an "o") made an alliance with
the same Childeric, and together they fought the Alamanni, who had been causing problems
in Italy. This Odoacer, with his connection to the region north of Italy, and his "o" spelling, is
probably the future king of Italy, before he was king.[28]

The earliest supposed recorded event which is more certainly about Odoacer the future king, was shortly
before he arrived in Italy. Eugippius, in his Life of Saint Severinus, records how a group of barbarians on
their way to Italy had stopped to pay their respects to the holy man. Odoacer, at the time "a young man, of
tall figure, clad in poor clothes", learned from Severinus that he would one day become famous.[29] Despite
the fact that Odoacer was an Arian Christian and Severinus was Catholic, the latter left a deep impression
on him.[29] When Odoacer took his leave, Severinus made one final comment which proved prophetic:
"Go to Italy, go, now covered with mean hides; soon you will make rich gifts to many."[30][k]

Leader of the foederati

By 470, Odoacer had become an officer in what remained of the
Roman Army. Although Jordanes writes of Odoacer as invading
Italy "as leader of the Sciri, the Heruli and allies of various
races",[5] modern writers describe him as being part of the Roman
military establishment, based on John of Antioch's statement that
Odoacer was on the side of Ricimer at the beginning of his battle
with the emperor Anthemius in 472.[15][l] In his capacity as a
soldier suddenly pitted against Anthemius, since he had switched
sides to join with Ricimer, Odoacer had "hastened the emperor's
Romulus Augustus resigns the
downfall."[33]
Crown (from a 19th-century
When Orestes was in 475 appointed Magister militum and patrician
illustration).
by the Western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos, Odoacer became
head of the Germanic foederati of Italy (the Scirian  – Herulic
foederati). Under the command of Orestes were significant contingents of Germanic peoples made up
mostly of Rugii and Heruli tribesmen.[34] Before the end of that year Orestes had rebelled and driven
Nepos from Italy.[34] Orestes then proclaimed his young son Romulus the new emperor as Romulus
Augustus, called "Augustulus" (31 October).[35] At this time, Odoacer was a soldier rising through the
ranks.[36] However, Nepos reorganized his court in Salona, Dalmatia and received homage and affirmation
from the remaining fragments of the Western Empire beyond Italy and, most importantly, from
Constantinople, which refused to accept Augustulus, Zeno having branded him and his father as traitors
and usurpers.[37]

About this time the foederati, who had been quartered in Italy all of these years, had grown weary of this
arrangement. In the words of J. B. Bury, "They desired to have roof-trees and lands of their own, and they
petitioned Orestes to reward them for their services, by granting them lands and settling them permanently
in Italy".[38] Orestes refused their petition, and they turned to Odoacer to lead their revolt against Orestes.
Orestes was killed at Placentia along with his brother Paulus outside Ravenna. The Germanic foederati, the
Scirians and the Heruli, as well as a large segment of the Italic Roman army, then proclaimed Odoacer rex
("king") on 23 August 476.[1][38] Odoacer then advanced to Ravenna and captured the city, compelling the
young emperor Romulus to abdicate on 4 September. According to the Anonymus Valesianus, Odoacer was
moved by Romulus's youth and his beauty to not only spare his life but give him a pension of 6,000 solidi
and sent him to Campania to live with his relatives.[39][m]
Following Romulus Augustus's deposition, according to the
historian Malchus, upon hearing of the accession of Zeno to the
throne, the Senate in Rome sent an embassy to the Eastern Emperor
and bestowed upon him the Western imperial insignia. The
message was clear: the West no longer required a separate Emperor,
for "one monarch sufficed [to rule] the world". In response, Zeno
accepted their gifts and this essentially brought to end any puppet Odoacer solidus struck in the name
emperors in the West, with Nepos banished and Anthemius of Emperor Zeno, testifying to the
formal submission of Odoacer to
dead.[40] The Eastern Emperor then conferred upon Odoacer the
Zeno.
title of Patrician and granted him legal authority to govern Italy in
the name of Rome, as dux Italiae.[41] Zeno also suggested that
Odoacer should receive Nepos back as Emperor in the West,[42] "if he truly wished to act with justice."[n]
Although he accepted the title of Patrician and Dux from Zeno, Odoacer did not invite Julius Nepos to
return to Rome, and the latter remained in Dalmatia until his death. Odoacer was careful to observe form,
however, and made a pretence of acting on Nepos's authority, even issuing coins with both his image and
that of Zeno.[43] Following Nepos's murder in 480, who was killed while waiting in Dalmatia,[44] Zeno
became sole Emperor.[45]

Bury, however, disagrees that Odoacer's assumption of power marked the fall of the Western Roman
Empire:

It stands out prominently as an important stage in the process of the dismemberment of the
Empire. It belongs to the same catalogue of chronological dates which includes A.D. 418,
when Honorius settled the Goths in Aquitaine, and A.D. 435, when Valentinian ceded African
lands to the Vandals. In A.D. 476 the same principle of disintegration was first applied to Italy.
The settlement of Odovacar's East Germans, with Zeno's acquiescence, began the process by
which Italian soil was to pass into the hands of Ostrogoths and Lombards, Franks and
Normans. And Odovacar's title of king emphasised the significance of the change.[46]

King of Italy
In 476, Odoacer was proclaimed rex by his Kingdom of Italy
soldiers and dux Italiae by emperor Zeno,
initiating a new era over Roman lands. According Regnum Italicum
to Jordanes, at the beginning of his reign he "slew 476–493
Count Bracila at Ravenna that he might inspire a
fear of himself among the Romans."[47] He took
many military actions to strengthen his control
over Italy and its neighboring areas. He achieved
a solid diplomatic coup by inducing the Vandal
king Gaiseric to cede Sicily to him. Noting that
"Odovacar seized power in August of 476,
Gaiseric died in January 477, and the sea usually
became closed to navigation around the beginning
of November", F.M. Clover dates this cession to The Kingdom of Italy (under Odoacer) in 480 AD.
September or October 476.[48] When Julius Capital Ravenna
Nepos was murdered by two of his retainers in his
country house near Salona (9 May 480), Odoacer Common languages Latin
Vulgar Latin
Gothic
assumed the duty of pursuing and executing the Religion Arianism (especially among
assassins, and at the same time established his Germanics),
own rule in Dalmatia.[49] Chalcedonian Orthodoxy
(majority, especially among
As Bury points out, "It is highly important to Romans),
observe that Odovacar established his political Syncretic Roman paganism
power with the co-operation of the Roman (minority of Romans),
Senate, and this body seems to have given him Germanic paganism,
Judaism,
their loyal support throughout his reign, so far as
Manichaeism
our meagre sources permit us to draw inferences."
He regularly nominated members of the Senate to Government Monarchy
the Consulate and other prestigious offices: Rex  
"Basilius, Decius, Venantius, and Manlius • 476–493 AD Odoacer
Boethius held the consulship and were either
Prefects of Rome or Praetorian Prefects; Legislature Roman Senate
Symmachus and Sividius were consuls and Historical era Late Antiquity and Early
Prefects of Rome; another senator of old family, Middle Ages
Cassiodorus, was appointed a minister of
• Odoacer is 23 August 476
finance."[46] A. H. M. Jones also notes that under proclaimed
Odoacer the Senate acquired "enhanced prestige rex/dux
and influence" in order to counter any desires for • Romulus 4 September 476
restoration of Imperial rule.[50] As the most Augustulus
tangible example of this renewed prestige, for the abdicates
first time since the mid-3rd century copper coins • Theoderic 15 March 493
were issued with the legend S(enatus) C(onsulto). assassinates
Jones describes these coins as "fine big copper Odoacer
pieces", which were "a great improvement on the Currency Solidus
miserable little nummi hitherto current", and not
only were they copied by the Vandals in Africa, Preceded by Succeeded by
but they formed the basis of the currency reform
Italia Ostrogothic Kingdom
by Anastasius in the Eastern Empire.[51]
Sicilia
Although Odoacer was an Arian Christian, his Dalmatia
relations with the Chalcedonian church hierarchy
were remarkably good. As G.M. Cook notes in
her introduction to Magnus Felix Ennodius' Life of Saint Epiphanius, he showed great esteem for Bishop
Epiphanius: in response to the bishop's petition, Odoacer granted the inhabitants of Liguria a five-year
immunity from taxes, and again granted his requests for relief from abuses by the praetorian prefect.[52][o]
The biography of Pope Felix III in the Liber Pontificalis openly states that the pontiff's tenure occurred
during Odoacer's reign without any complaints about the king being registered.[53]

In 487/488, Odoacer led his army to victory against the Rugians in Noricum, taking their king Feletheus
into captivity; when word that Feletheus' son, Fredericus, had returned to his people, Odoacer sent his
brother Onoulphus with an army back to Noricum against him. Onoulphus found it necessary to evacuate
the remaining Romans and resettled them in Italy.[54] The remaining Rugians fled and took refuge with the
Ostrogoths; the abandoned province was settled by the Lombards by 493.[55]

Fall and death

 As Odoacer's position improved, Zeno, the Eastern Emperor,
increasingly saw him as a rival. Odoacer exchanged messages with
Illus, who had been in open revolt against Zeno since 484.[56][p]
Switching allegiances, Zeno subsequently sought to destroy
Odoacer and then promised Theodoric the Great and his
Ostrogoths the Italian peninsula if they were to defeat and remove
Odoacer. As both Herwig Wolfram and Peter Heather point out,
Theodoric had his own reasons to agree to this offer: "Theodoric
had enough experience to know (or at least suspect) that Zeno
would not, in the long term, tolerate his independent power. When
Theodoric rebelled in 485, we are told, he had in mind Zeno's
treatment of Armatus. Armatus defected from Basilicus to Zeno in
476, and was made senior imperial general for life. Within a year,
Zeno had him assassinated."[57]

In 489, Theodoric led the Ostrogoths across the Julian Alps and
An early illustration of a into Italy. On 28 August, Odoacer met him at the Isonzo, only to be
mythologized Theodoric killing defeated.[58][q] He withdrew to Verona, reaching its outskirts on 27
Odoacer in a joust. From the September, where he immediately set up a fortified camp.
Chronica Theodericiana (1181). Theodoric followed him and three days later defeated him
again.[60][r] While Odoacer took refuge in Ravenna, Theodoric
continued across Italy to Mediolanum, where the majority of
Odoacer's army, including his chief general Tufa, surrendered to the Ostrogothic king.[61][s] Theodoric had
no reason to doubt Tufa's loyalty and dispatched his new general to Ravenna with a band of elite soldiers.
Herwig Wolfram observes, "[b]ut Tufa changed sides, the Gothic elite force entrusted to his command was
destroyed, and Theodoric suffered his first serious defeat on Italian soil."[62] Theodoric recoiled by seeking
safety in Ticinum. Odoacer emerged from Ravenna and started to besiege his rival. While both were fully
engaged, the Burgundians seized the opportunity to plunder and devastated Liguria. Many Romans were
taken into captivity, and did not regain their freedom until Theodoric ransomed them three years later.[62]

The following summer, the Visigothic king Alaric II demonstrated what Wolfram calls "one of the rare
displays of Gothic solidarity" and sent military aid to help his kinsman, forcing Odoacer to raise his siege.
Theodoric emerged from Ticinum, and on 11 August 490, the armies of the two kings clashed on the Adda
River.[62] Odoacer again was defeated and forced back into Ravenna, where Theodoric besieged him.[63]
Ravenna proved to be invulnerable, surrounded by marshes and estuaries and easily supplied by small
boats from its hinterlands, as Procopius later pointed out in his History.[64] Further, Tufa remained at large
in the strategic valley of the Adige near Trent, and received unexpected reinforcements when dissent
amongst Theodoric's ranks led to sizable desertions.[65] That same year, the Vandals took their turn to strike
while both sides were fully engaged and invaded Sicily.[63] While Theodoric was engaged with them, his
ally Fredericus, king of the Rugians, began to oppress the inhabitants of Pavia, whom the latter's forces had
been garrisoned to protect. Once Theodoric intervened in person in late August, 491, his punitive acts
drove Fredericus to desert with his followers to Tufa.[63][t]

By this time, however, Odoacer appeared to have lost all hope of victory. A large-scale sortie he sent out of
Ravenna on the night of 9/10 July 491 ended in failure,[66] during which his commander-in-chief, Livilia,
along with the best of his Herulian soldiers were killed.[67] On 29 August 492, the Goths were about to
assemble enough ships at Rimini to set up an effective blockade of Ravenna. Despite these decisive losses,
the war dragged on until 25 February 493 when John, bishop of Ravenna, was able to negotiate a treaty
between Theodoric and Odoacer to occupy Ravenna together and share joint rule. After a three-year siege,
Theodoric entered the city on 5 March. Odoacer died ten days later, slain by Theodoric while they shared a
meal.[67][68] Theodoric had plotted to have a group of his followers kill him while the two kings were
feasting together in the imperial palace of Honorius "Ad Laurentum" ("At the Laurel Grove"); when this
plan went astray, Theodoric drew his sword and struck him on the collarbone. In response to Odoacer's
dying question, "Where is God?" Theodoric cried, "This is what you did to my friends." Theodoric was
said to have stood over the body of his dead rival and exclaimed, "The man has no bones in his
body."[69][u]

Not only did Theodoric slay Odoacer, he thereafter had the betrayed king's loyal followers hunted down
and killed as well, an event which left him as the master of Italy.[70][w] Odoacer's wife Sunigilda was
stoned to death,[x] and his brother Onoulphus was killed by archers while seeking refuge in a church.
Theodoric exiled Odoacer's son Thela to Gaul, but when he attempted to return to Italy Theodoric had him
killed.[y] Despite the tragic ending of his domain, followers, and family, Odoacer left an important legacy,
in that, he had laid the foundations for a great kingdom in Italy for Theodoric to exploit.[71]

Modern media portrayal

Odoacer is depicted in Valerio Massimo Manfredi's 2002 novel The Last Legion, and
portrayed by Peter Mullan in its 2007 film adaptation.
The movie 476 A.D. Chapter One: The Last Light of Aries about Romulus Augustus's
deposition by Odoacer, the Chieftain of the Ostrogoths, and the End of the Roman Empire,
was released in 2013, by Ivan Pavletić.

See also
Alaric I
Gaiseric
Germanic peoples
Barbarian invasions

Notes
a. Odoacer is called "Flavius" on a few coins.[1] The name had become a title by the 5th
century.[2]
b. See the following: "Odoacer" (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/odoacer). Random House
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
c. Ancient Greek: Ὀδόακρος, romanized: Odóakros[1]
d. "Odoacer was the first barbarian who reigned over Italy, over a people who had once
asserted their just superiority above the rest of mankind." Edward Gibbon, The Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter XXXVI.[3]
e. Marcellinus, Cassiodorus, and some Papal documents, which come the closest to implying
official use of the title, all refer to him as rex (or one of its declensions). Jordanes at one point
refers to him as Gothorum Romanorumque regnator: ruler of the Goths and the Romans. He
is called an autokrator (autocrat) and a tyrannos (usurper, tyrant) in Procopius' Bellum
Gothicum. The only reference to Odoacer as "King of Italy" is in Victor Vitensis: Odouacro
Italiae regi.
f. For more on this, see: Stefan Krautschick, "Zwei Aspekte des Jahres 476", Historia:
Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4435971), 35 (1986), pp. 344–
371.
g. Marcellinus Comes, Chronicon, s. a. 476.
h. See:Jordanes, Romana 344.
i. The Anonymus Valesianus agrees that his father's name was Edeko (Edika), and refers to
him leading Sciri and Heruli.
j. It is not universally accepted that this Edeko is the same person who lived at this time. One
person with this name was a trusted man and an ambassador of Attila to the court in
Constantinople, who escorted Priscus and other Imperial dignitaries back to Attila's camp.
He was described by Priscus as a Hun. An Edica, possibly the same person, is mentioned
by Jordanes and identified as a leader of the Sciri, along with Hunuulf (perhaps his son),
who were soundly defeated by the Ostrogoths at the Battle of Bolia in Pannonia about
469.[8][9] There is also debate regarding the etymology of Edeco, with Omeljan Pritsak
considering it Turkic and Peter Heather considering it Germanic.[10][11]
k. Translator of Eugippius' The Life of Saint Severin, Ludwig Bieler, explains in a footnote that
"make rich gifts to many" refers to the custom of Germanic war leaders giving lavishly to their
followers, because "generosity was one of the virtues which a king was supposed to
have."[31]
l. Also See: John of Antioch, fragment 209; translated by C. D. Gordon, Age of Attila, p. 122.
Procopius describes him as one of the Emperor's bodyguards, only agreeing to this position
if placed in charge of them.[32]
m. Also see: Anonymus Valesianus, 8.38. Text and English translation of this document is in
J.C. Rolfe (trans.), Ammianus Marcellinus (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972), vol.
3 pp. 531ff
n. See:Malchus, fragment 10, translated in C. D. Gordon, The Age of Attila, pp. 127–129.
o. Cook writes, "One wonders at [Ennodius'] brevity," adding that during "the thirteen years of
Odovacar's mastery of Italy... a period which embraced nearly half the episcopate of
Epiphanius–Ennodius devotes but eight sections of the vita (101–107), five of which are
taken up with the restoration of the churches." Cook uses Ennodius' brevity as an
argumentum ex silentio to prove that Odoacer was very supportive of the Church. "Ennodius
was a loyal supporter of Theodoric the Great. Any oppression, therefore, on the part of
Odovacar would not be passed over in silence." She concludes that Ennodius' silence "may
be construed as an unintentional tribute to the moderation and tolerance of the barbarian
king."[52]
p. Also see: John of Antioch, fragment 214; translated by C. D. Gordon, Age of Attila, p. 152.
q. For several years the armies of Odoacer and Theodoric marched back and forth as they vied
for control of Italy.[59]
r. See also: Anonymus Valesianus, 11.50f. This follows how Thomas Hodgkins explains this
confusing chronology of the Anonymus Valesianus; Italy and her Invaders (Oxford, 1885),
vol. 4 p. 214.
s. Also See:Anonymus Valesianus, 11.52.
t. Wolfram suggests that sometime in 492 or 493, Fredericus and Tufa quarreled and fought a
battle, during which both were killed. To this Wolfram adds, that the Rugians "rejoined the
Gothic king" (by whom, he means Theodoric).[63]
u. John of Antioch, fragment 214a; translated by C. D. Gordon, reports the statement as, "There
certainly wasn't a bone in this wretched fellow." Age of Attila, pp. 182f. Both the Anonymus
Valesianus (11.55) and Andreas Agnellus (Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis, ch. 39)
places the murder in Ad Laurentum. Herwig Wolfram explains Theodoric's claim of avenging
his "friends" as recompense for the death of a Rugian royal couple – "it apparently did not
matter that their son was at that very moment in open rebellion against Theodoric."[67]
v. See:Anonymus Valesianus 11.56
 w. According to one account, "That same day, all of Odoacer's army who could be found
anywhere were killed by order of Theodoric, as well as all of his family."[v]
x. However, Wolfram writes that Sunigilda was starved to death.[67]
y. See: John of Antioch, fragment 214a.

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3. Gibbon 1998, p. 716.
4. MacGeorge 2002, p. 284.
5. Jordanes 1915, p. 119 [XLVI.242].
6. Reynolds & Lopez 1946, p. 44.
7. Kim 2013, pp. 98–99.
8. Hussey 1957, p. 361.
9. Heather 2005, pp. 314–317.
10. Pritsak 1982, pp. 456–457.
11. Heather 2005, p. 329.
12. Friedhof und Katakomben im Stift St. Peter (https://www.stift-stpeter.at/de/kloster/index.asp?
dat=Friedhof-Katakomben)
13. Sotiroff 1974, p. 93.
14. Magocsi 2015, pp. 50–51.
15. Frassetto 2003, p. 275.
16. Kim 2013, pp. 98–101.
17. Macbain 1983, p. 325.
18. MacGeorge 2002, p. 286.
19. Amory 1997, p. 282.
20. Jensen 2018, p. 16.
21. Waldman & Mason 2006, p. 699.
22. Voyles 1992, p. 141.
23. Reynolds & Lopez 1946, p. 45.
24. Macbain 1983, p. 324.
25. Macbain 1983, p. 326.
26. Macbain 1983, p. 327.
27. Gregory of Tours 1974, p. 132 [II.18–19].
28. MacGeorge 2002, p. 110.
29. Thompson 1982, p. 63.
30. Eugippius 1965, p. 64.
31. Eugippius 1965, p. 65fn.
32. Prokopios 2014, p. 251 [5.1.6].
33. Wolfram 1997, p. 184.
34. Goldsworthy 2009, p. 367.
35. Bury 1923, p. 405.
36. Thompson 1982, pp. 63–64.
37. Bury 1958, p. 190.
38. Bury 1923, p. 406.
39. Bernard 1970, p. 19.
40. Bury 1923, p. 407.
41. Heather 2005, pp. 428–429.
42. Heather 2005, p. 429.
43. Elton 2018, p. 219.
44. Bunson 1995, p. 292.
45. Grant 1998, pp. 46–47.
46. Bury 1923, p. 409.
47. Jordanes 1915, p. 119 [XLVI.243].
48. Clover 1999, p. 237.
49. Bury 1923, p. 410.
50. Jones 1964, p. 253.
51. Jones 1964, p. 254.
52. Ennodius 1942, p. 12fn.
53. Davis 2001, p. 41fn.
54. Amory 1997, p. 121.
55. Paul the Deacon 2003, pp. 31–33 [XIX].
56. Lee 2013, p. 100.
57. Heather 1996, p. 217.
58. Heather 2013, pp. 50–51.
59. Delbrück 1990, p. 289.
60. Heather 2013, p. 51.
61. Frassetto 2003, p. 337.
62. Wolfram 1988, p. 281.
63. Wolfram 1988, p. 282.
64. Prokopios 2014, pp. 252–253 [5.1.18–23].
65. Heather 1996, p. 219.
66. Wolfram 1997, p. 188.
67. Wolfram 1988, p. 283.
68. Bury 1923, p. 426.
69. Amory 1997, p. 69.
70. Halsall 2007, p. 287.
71. Frassetto 2003, p. 276.

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Further reading
 Gregory, Timothy E. (2005). A History of Byzantium (https://archive.org/details/historyofbyzan
ti00greg). Malden, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-63123-513-2.

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