The date usually given for the Fall of Rome is September 4, 476 AD, when Romulus Augustulus, who is described as the last emperor of the West Roman Empire, was deposed.
There are enough problems with this date that it can only be considered a convenient label where no other is much better. These include the following:
Romulus Augustulus had never been recognized as emperor by Zeno, the Emperor of the East, as was required for him to be emperor. This meant that there was good reason to regard him as a usurper. He was, in fact, a puppet of his father, who was not legally qualified to be emperor and so attempted to put Romulus on the throne instead. He also never ruled, as he was too young to rule, and was deposed in less than a year, so he could hardly be considered to have successfully acquired the title.
Emperor Julius Nepos, who had been emperor before Romulus, had been recognized as such and was clearly legally emperor. He had left Italy because of rebellions there, but he was still alive, and still claiming to be emperor of the West, until 480.
The person who deposed Romulus Augustulus, Odoacar, had the Roman Senate ask Zeno to assume control as Emperor of the West and reunite the empire, which Zeno did. So the event called the fall of the empire was legalistically considered reunification at the time.
The Senate of the Roman Empire continued to function in Italy until 603 AD, and possibly later, so clearly the government of Rome was still functioning for at least 127 years after it supposedly fell.
With some exceptions, the people of the West Roman Empire still considered themselves to be within the Roman Empire.
Roman law continued to function in many parts of the West until it was unified with Germanic laws. This was a process that took centuries.
The Byzantine Empire, which was the East Roman Empire, technically reunited with the West, continued to operate until 1453, when it was destroyed by the Ottoman Turks. During this time it was always called the Roman Empire. The name Byzantine Empire did not appear until long after it fell, and was used because it was a convenient way of distinguishing it from the ancient Roman Empire, the Carolingian Empire, and the Holy Roman Empire, all of which were called the Roman Empire by at least someone.
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There are enough problems with this date that it can only be considered a convenient label where no other is much better. These include the following:
Romulus Augustulus had never been recognized as emperor by Zeno, the Emperor of the East, as was required for him to be emperor. This meant that there was good reason to regard him as a usurper. He was, in fact, a puppet of his father, who was not legally qualified to be emperor and so attempted to put Romulus on the throne instead. He also never ruled, as he was too young to rule, and was deposed in less than a year, so he could hardly be considered to have successfully acquired the title.
Emperor Julius Nepos, who had been emperor before Romulus, had been recognized as such and was clearly legally emperor. He had left Italy because of rebellions there, but he was still alive, and still claiming to be emperor of the West, until 480.
The person who deposed Romulus Augustulus, Odoacar, had the Roman Senate ask Zeno to assume control as Emperor of the West and reunite the empire, which Zeno did. So the event called the fall of the empire was legalistically considered reunification at the time.
The Senate of the Roman Empire continued to function in Italy until 603 AD, and possibly later, so clearly the government of Rome was still functioning for at least 127 years after it supposedly fell.
With some exceptions, the people of the West Roman Empire still considered themselves to be within the Roman Empire.
Roman law continued to function in many parts of the West until it was unified with Germanic laws. This was a process that took centuries.
The Byzantine Empire, which was the East Roman Empire, technically reunited with the West, continued to operate until 1453, when it was destroyed by the Ottoman Turks. During this time it was always called the Roman Empire. The name Byzantine Empire did not appear until long after it fell, and was used because it was a convenient way of distinguishing it from the ancient Roman Empire, the Carolingian Empire, and the Holy Roman Empire, all of which were called the Roman Empire by at least someone.
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There seems to be a consensus today that the fall of the Roman Empire was a process, rather than event, and that it took a very long time, decades to centuries.
There is a link to a related question below, at which there is a timeline for the decline and fall of Rome. There are also other links.
