Carthage, the second largest city in the empire, was lost along with much of North Africa in 439 AD to the Vandals, and the fate of Rome seemed sealed. By 476 AD, what remained of the Empire was completely in the hands of federated Germanic troops and when they revolted, led by Odoacer and deposed the Emperor Romulus Augustus there was nobody to stop them. Odoacer happened to hold the part of the Empire around Italy and Rome but other parts of the Empire were ruled by Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Alans and others. The Empire in the West had fallen, and its remnant in Italy was no longer Roman in nature. The Eastern Roman Empire and the Goths continued to fight over Rome and the surrounding area for many years, though by this point Rome's importance was primarily symbolic.