Glycerius Named Emperor
A puppet placed on a crumbling throne
Gundobad, the powerful Burgundian general and nephew of the late kingmaker Ricimer, placed Glycerius on the throne of the Western Roman Empire. The new emperor was little more than a figurehead in a realm that was rapidly disintegrating. Glycerius's brief and largely powerless reign illustrated the terminal decline of Western Rome, where emperors were made and unmade by barbarian generals who held the real power.
