The barbarian general who ruled the Western Roman Empire through a series of puppets

History · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Ricimer was a Germanic commander who held the real power in the Western Roman Empire for seventeen years. Unable to take the throne himself due to his Arian faith, he installed and deposed four emperors at will, ultimately accelerating the collapse of the Roman state in the fifth century.

Born around 418, Ricimer rose through the ranks of the Roman military, likely serving under the famous general Aetius. Following the power vacuum created by the assassinations of Aetius and Emperor Valentinian III in the mid-450s, Ricimer emerged as the dominant military figure in the West. As magister militum, he commanded the Germanic mercenaries who formed the backbone of the remaining imperial forces, effectively making him the kingmaker of a shrinking territory confined largely to Italy and parts of southern Gaul.

Ricimer’s reign was defined by his volatile relationship with the emperors he installed. He famously deposed Majorian in 461, whom historians like Michael Grant have called the last competent Western emperor, after a failed naval campaign against the Vandals. He later clashed with Anthemius, an aristocrat appointed by the Eastern Emperor Leo I. The tension between the two culminated in a brutal siege of Rome in 472, ending with Anthemius’s execution. Ricimer’s influence was so pervasive that he even dictated the succession of Olybrius shortly before his own death from a hemorrhage in August 472.

Scholars remain divided on Ricimer’s legacy. Some, like Ilkka Syvänne, argue that his self-serving plots and constant undermining of capable leaders directly precipitated the fall of the West. Others, such as James M. O'Flynn, suggest that his role was a structural necessity; by the 470s, the empire required a general with deep ties to barbarian troops to act as a bridge between the impotent imperial figurehead and the soldiers who held actual power. Regardless of intent, his death triggered widespread instability, paving the way for the eventual transition of the Italian Peninsula into a Germanic kingdom.

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