The surviving Western Roman Empire is widely recognized as having fallen on 4th September, 476 AD when Flavius Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus and declared himself ruler of all Italy. However, Rome had been largely in collapse for at least a century prior, and by the time of the last Roman emperor in the west, Rome existed more by name than fact. The collapse of Rome left a power vacuum across Europe, launching the continent into centuries of continuous warfare and cultural stagnation known a