Odoacer

Odoacer ( 433 – 93 )
Gothic chieftain who became the first Germanic ruler of Italy. He and his troops were part of the Roman army and when Romulus Augustus became emperor ( 476 ) he led an uprising and deposed him, making Ravenna his capital. This event marked the end of the Western Roman empire . His troops later overran Dalmatia, threatening the power of Zeno, the Eastern emperor, who encouraged Theodoric the Great , King of the Ostrogoths, to besiege Ravenna. Odoacer surrendered ( 493 ) on promise of retaining half of Italy but at a banquet was murdered by Theodoric , who became sole ruler.