It's funny...

[fpb]

Both incarnations of the Roman Empire in Europe began and ended with the same names. The Roman Empire, founded by a man called Augustus, had as its last emperor in the West a man called Romulus Augustus - and Romulus was the name of the legendary founder of the city of Rome.

Its successor in the West was founded by a man called Charles (Charlemagne, Charles the Great). The last person in the succession of Charlemagne's imperial crown was also called Charles - Charles I of Austria, the first member of the Imperial house of Habsburg, oddly enough, to take the name. The first Charles is a canonized Saint of the Catholic Church; the last one is going through the stages of canonization, and nobody doubts his saintly character. Odd.

Comments

[eliskimo.livejournal.com]

Odd indeed.
Was there also a parallel with the eastern Roman empire?

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Come to think of it, yes. Constantinople was founded by Constantine I the Great, and fell under Constantine X (or XI). However, the actual first emperor of the East was Arcadius son of Theodosius.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I spotted a mistake of sorts. Where I said that Charles of Habsburg was the first of his house to use the name, I meant, of course, the first of the house of Habsburg-Lorraine and in particuar of the Empire of Austria. His ancestor Charles V of the Empire and I of Spain not only wore the name, but came closest than anyone except possibly Napoleon to re-establishing the Roman Empire in Europe.