<P> By convention , the Western Roman Empire is deemed to have ended on 4 September 476 , when Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustulus and proclaimed himself ruler of Italy , but this convention is subject to many qualifications . In Roman constitutional theory , the Empire was still simply united under one emperor , implying no abandonment of territorial claims . In areas where the convulsions of the dying Empire had made organized self - defence legitimate , rump states continued under some form of Roman rule after 476 . Julius Nepos still claimed to be Emperor of the West and controlled Dalmatia until his murder in 480 . Syagrius son of Aegidius ruled the Domain of Soissons until his murder in 487 . The indigenous inhabitants of Mauretania developed kingdoms of their own , independent of the Vandals , with strong Roman traits . They again sought Imperial recognition with the reconquests of Justinian I , and they put up effective resistance to the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb . While the civitates of Britannia sank into a level of material development inferior even to their pre-Roman Iron Age ancestors , they maintained identifiably Roman traits for some time , and they continued to look to their own defence as Honorius had authorized . </P>
who becomes king of italy after the fall of the roman empire in the west in 476 ce
Odoacer