The last Italian emperor ?

[Epictetus]

I would guess that Italy was in fact returning to the top, precisely because it wasn't the top any more. You can see a parallel development in the imperial residences: in the fifth century, we see nearly all of them residing in Rome. Italy was becoming a world of its own, and more powerful rulers were living in Trier or Constantinople.

This fascinating point is raised in Chris Wickham’s new The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000. I’m only about 20% through so far, but have already found a number of good ideas and questions for threads here.