Flavius Odoacer

Odoacer’s wife, Sunigilda, was stoned to death after the demise of her husband. Odoacer and Sunigilda had a son.

Their son, Thela, was forced to go on exile to Gaul. Unfortunately, he too, was killed by Theodoric when he tried to enter Italy.

Odoacer’s brother Onoulphus was also killed in a church where he had taken refuge.

There is a lot of confusion regarding the origin of Odoacer. Many learned scholars believe that Odoacer was born in 433 C.E, and belonged to Scirian descent.

In 1983, after reviewing primary sources, it was concluded that his mother was of Scirian descent and his father was of Thuringian descent. It was also concluded that Odoacer was born into a Germanic tribe.

He was said to be the son of Edeko. But confusions arose when scholars found out that there were two persons by the name Edeko. While one served as the ambassador of Attila, another served as the chieftain of Scirii, an East Germanic tribe.

In 17th Century, it was surmised that both the identities were of the same person and it was confirmed that Edeko was the father of Odoacer.

Jordanes, an Eastern Roman bureaucrat, had referred to Odoacer as the ‘King of Turcilingi’. However, Jordanes had also mentioned in his ‘Romana’ (a Latin book) that Odoacer was a member of Rugii, an East Germanic tribe.

In a book titled ‘Life of Saint Severinus’ by Eugippius, there is a mention of a group of young men marching towards Italy. It’s written in the book that the group had stopped to pay their respect to a holy man named Severinus.

Severinus speaks about blessing a young man (possibly Odoacer) with a prophecy that he will become famous in Italy.

Odoacer, along with the Scirians, entered Italy around 470 C.E, and became a part of the Roman military establishment. Odoacer and his army of Germanic warriors remained loyal to a Germanic general named Ricimer during the battle with Emperor Anthemius in 472.

It was also claimed by a scholar named Procopius that Odoacer was the bodyguard of the emperor. The Germanic warriors aided Ricimer in his struggle to make Olybrius the emperor. It so happened that both Ricimer and Olybrius died earlier than expected, and gave Orestes an opportunity to become the Magister militum in 475 C.E.