The Western Roman Empire soon ceased to exist. In the early fifth century, its whole territory was overrun by Germanic tribes, and in 476, the Western Roman Empire in Italy was declared defunct, when the Scirian Odoacer deposed Emperor Romulus Augustulus and declared himself rex Italiae ("King of Italy").The Eastern Roman Empire (known also as the Byzantine Empire) continued to thrive. Thus, the political unity of the Roman Empire was the first to fall. When royal and imperial rule re-established itself, it had to contend with power wielded independently by the Church. In the East, however, imperial and later Islamic rule dominated the Eastern bishops of Byzantium. The Orthodox regions that were predominantly Slavic experienced period foreign dominance as well as period without infrastructure.
