Dictator

Dictator

Introduction to Dictator

Dictator, title of a magistrate in ancient Rome, appointed by the Senate in times of emergency, and ratified by the comitia curiata. The first such appointment, according to Roman historians, was made in 501 bc; the last responsible dictator was appointed during the Second Punic War, in 216 bc. The dictator held office usually for six months, and served as chief magistrate of the state, with limited power over life and death. Civil jurisdiction was retained by regular magistrates, who were subordinate to him, and his military jurisdiction was limited to Italian territory. According to the Roman orator, statesman, and philosopher Cicero, the office was originally created to cope with civil disturbances. In the last years of the Republic, Roman politicians occasionally assumed the office with extralegal powers. The dictatorship of general and statesman Lucius Cornelius Sulla lasted from 82 to 79 bc; Julius Caesar became dictator for life in 45 bc. The office was abolished after Caesar’s death in 44 bc.

In modern times those who have assumed sole power over the state have been called dictators; notable among these have been Miguel Primo de Rivera and Francisco Franco of Spain, Józef Pilsudski of Poland, António de Oliveira Salazar of Portugal, Benito Mussolini of Italy, Adolf Hitler of Germany, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union. Dictators have also come to prominence in Latin America, among them Juan Perón in Argentina, Fulgencio Batista in Cuba, Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Porfirio Díaz in Mexico, and Manuel Antonio Noriega in Panama. ” (1)

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Notes and References

Guide to Dictator


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