On September 4, 476 AD, Odoacer, a Germanic chieftain, deposed Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor. This event is traditionally considered the end of the Western Roman Empire and marks a significant transition in European history.

The fall was not sudden but the result of centuries of decline, including economic troubles, military pressures from barbarian tribes, political instability, and the division of the empire. The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) continued for nearly another thousand years until 1453.