Flavius Ricimer

Flavius Ricimer played a central role in the history of the Western Roman Empire from 456 to 472 as a military leader and politician. As a general, he was involved in a web of relationships among power players (emperors, the army, senatorial aristocracy, the church, Germanic peoples, Eastern Roman Empire) who were vying for influence and autonomy in the West. Under these circumstances, Ricimer was able to secure Italy and his position of power there, but he could not prevent the dissolution of the Western Empire in the territories outside Italy. In exercising his power, Ricimer - still operating within Roman frameworks - drew inspiration from his predecessors Stilicho, Fl. Constantius, and Aetius, while simultaneously foreshadowing the Germanic rulers Odoacer and Theoderic who would follow him in Italy. This work combines a biographical and event-based investigation of Ricimer's career with an examination of the structural conditions of his power position and imperial policy in the second half of the 5th century.