Editing Romulus Augustulus (section)

== Legacy ==
[[File:Romulus Augustulus, RIC X 3419.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Tremissis]] of Romulus Augustus]]
Very few records survive of Romulus' reign. Any policies that he might have pursued are not known. The scant narrative record and few known coins, in addition to there not being any known inscriptions of significance or laws issued by the emperor, make him a shadowy and relatively inconsequential figure.{{Sfn|Nathan|1997}} Ralph W. Mathisen considered him in 1997 to have been "perhaps even the least significant" of the short-lived emperors near the end of the Western Roman Empire.{{Sfn|Mathisen|1997}} When not seen as only inconsequential, opinions by historians on Romulus Augustus have been negative. In ''[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]'' (1776–1788), [[Edward Gibbon]] wrote that he "assumed and disgraced the names of Romulus [and] Augustus".{{Sfn|Gibbon|1872|p=100}}

Romulus Augustus is typically regarded as the last Western Roman emperor,{{Sfn|Mathisen|1997}}{{Sfn|Kos|2008|p=439}}{{Sfn|McEvoy|2012}}{{Sfn|Heather|2015}} or even the last Roman emperor overall,{{Sfn|Loewenstein|1973|p=238}}{{Efn|This assessment derives from the [[historiography|historiographical]] separation of the later eastern Roman Empire, often termed the "[[Byzantine Empire]]" by modern historians, from [[ancient Rome]]. In the east, the Roman Empire survived for another millennium, with the populace and the emperors regarding themselves as "[[Roman people|Roman]]", until its [[Fall of Constantinople|fall]] in 1453.{{Sfn|Loewenstein|1973|p=238}}{{Sfn|Corning|2015|pp=32–33}}}} with his deposition seen as marking the end of the Western Roman Empire as a political entity.{{Sfn|Nathan|1997}} The deposition of Romulus is also one of the most commonly used dates by historians to mark the transition from [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]] to the [[medieval period]].{{Sfn|Rebenich|2009|p=78}} Romulus being seen as the last emperor over other contenders derives not only from Romulus having been the last emperor proclaimed in the west, but also from the poetic nature of being named after both [[Romulus]], the founder of Rome, and [[Augustus]], the first Roman emperor.{{Sfn|Mathisen|1997}} Many historians have noted the coincidence that the last emperor combined the names of both the city's founder and the first emperor. In ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', Gibbon wrote that "the appellations of the two great founders of the city and of the monarchy were thus strangely united in the last of their successors".{{Sfn|Gibbon|1872|p=100}}
[[File:Julius Nepos RIC X 3242 (obverse).jpg|thumb|left|180px|[[Tremissis]] of [[Julius Nepos]] ({{Reign}}474–475/480), Romulus Augustus' predecessor]]
Some modern scholars consider Romulus' distinction as the last western emperor to be dubious.{{Sfn|Nathan|1997}} In particular, some historians, such as Ralph W. Mathisen and [[Marjeta Šašel Kos]], have pointed to [[Julius Nepos]] as the actual last Western Roman emperor. Though he never regained Italy, Nepos continued to rule in Dalmatia, with support from Zeno and with nominal recognition by Odoacer, until he was murdered in 480.{{Sfn|Nathan|1997}}{{Sfn|Kos|2008|p=439}} Throughout the duration of his brief reign, Romulus was never recognised in Constantinople, with the eastern court instead continuing to recognise Nepos as the legitimate western emperor.{{Sfn|Heather|2015}}{{Sfn|Sandberg|2008|p=209}}

Though none would be widely recognised thereafter, Nepos also was not the last person to claim the western empire. From about 477 to 516, the [[Moors|Moorish]] ''dux'' [[Masties]] in North Africa claimed to be an emperor.<ref>{{Harvnb|Yves Modéran|2003}}</ref> In Visigothic Hispania, two Roman usurpers rose from the [[Ebro]] valley, attempting to claim imperial authority: [[Burdunellus]] (496) and [[Peter (usurper)|Petrus]] (506).{{Sfn|Collins|2004|p=35}}{{Sfn|Thompson|1982|p=193}}

Romulus Augustus being identified as the last emperor of the western empire is a tradition that began already among eastern Roman historians and writers in the early 6th century. The earliest known writer to consider him as such was [[Marcellinus Comes]] (died {{Circa}} 534), who wrote the following passage concerning Romulus:{{Sfn|Mathisen|1997}}
{{Blockquote|text=The western Empire of the Roman people, which first began in the seven hundred and ninth year after the founding of the City with Octavian Augustus, the first of the [[augustus (title)|emperors]], perished with this Augustulus, in the five-hundred and twenty-second year of the reign of Augustus' successor emperors. From this point on Gothic kings held power in Rome.{{efn|There are exactly 709 years between 753&nbsp;BC ([[ab urbe condita|traditional founding of Rome]]) and 44&nbsp;BC ([[death of Julius Caesar]]), and 520 years between that year and AD&nbsp;476 ([[inclusive counting|counted inclusively]]). The number ''DXX'' (520) may have been corrupted into ''DXXII'' (522).}}{{Sfn|Mathisen|1997|p=}}}}
Later Eastern Roman authors continued to regard him as the last emperor of the western empire. [[Procopius]] ({{Circa}} 500–after 565) considered Romulus to have been the last legitimate ruler in the west,{{Sfn|Nathan|1997}} as did [[Jordanes]] (also 6th century).{{Sfn|Kos|2008|p=439}}