The last few Emperors of the West stagger on, with Ricimer, a Germanic general in the Roman army, effectively ruling what is left from behind the scenes, more or less ignored by Byzantium, alternatively invaded and propped up by Genseric from the African Vandal kingdom, with a brief spurt of activity under Majorian. After Ricimer's death, the Gothic leader Odoacer simply abolishes the position of Emperor in Italy; it is not even clear what year this happened in.
