WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Gibbon took September 4, 476, as a convenient marker for the final dissolution of the Western Roman Empire, when Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed by Odoacer, a Germanic chieftain.

Detailed explanation-2: -Because the fall of the Western Roman Empire occurred in 476, many historians consider it the last year of ancient history and the first year of the Middle Ages in Europe.

Detailed explanation-3: -Although everyone from schoolchildren to scholars now learn that the Western Roman Empire fell in 476, 5th century Romans did not see anything particularly special about Odoacer’s coup.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Western Roman Empire falls in 476. Meanwhile, the other half, called the Byzantine Empire, survives until 1453 with the decline of Constantinople, now called Istanbul.