Odoacer (Flavius Odoacrus/Odovacar/Odowaker/Odoacer; b. 431, † probably March 15, 493 in Ravenna) was a soldier in the army of the West Roman Empire of Germanic descent. When he forced the last Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustus to quit his throne in 476, he became King of Italy. That event is considered the end of Ancient history and the beginning of the Middle Ages by historians. After a rule of 17 years, Odoacer would be killed by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great at the age of 62 in 493. 