<span>The </span>Fall of the Western Roman Empire<span> (commonly
known as </span>Fall of the Roman Empire<span> or </span>Fall
of Rome) was the period of decline in the Western Roman Empire in which it disintegrated and split
into numerous successor states. By 476 CE, when Odoacer deposed the Emperor Romulus, the Western Roman Empire wielded negligible military,
political, or financial power and had no effective control over the scattered
Western domains that could still be described as Roman. Invading
"barbarians" had established their own polities on most of the area
of the Western Empire. While its legitimacy lasted for centuries longer and its
cultural influence remains today, the Western Empire never had the strength to
rise again.
