The Prefecture of Italy and the End of the Western Roman Empire

This article aims to contextualize the role of the praetorian prefecture of Italy in the period between the death of Valentinian III and the end of the Western Roman Empire. After a reconstruction of the fasti (years 455-489 AD), the role of the most powerful of the prefects of these years, Fl. Caecina Decius Basilius, is brought into focus. The career of this great aristocrat, his ability to intervene in imperial politics, his relations with the magister militum praesentalis Ricimer, represents a useful case study from which general considerations can be made, such as the interaction between central government, aristocracy and administration, the balance of power at the top of the res publica and the impact of these balances on the end of imperial authority in the West.