Compare the position of dictator in this Livy's account with present-day dictators?

Answer 1

The dictator was an extraordinary officer of state during the Republic. He was appointed by senatorial decree with a very specific mandate (rei gerundae causa: for the matter to be done) as the sole head of state (normally there were two annually elected consuls as joint heads of state) for a term of six months in times of emergency. His authority was absolute and went beyond that of ordinary officers of state. Usually the emergency was war when there was a need for a sole military commander (normally the army was commanded jointly the two consuls) or to appoint a man with better strategy and leadership skills.

All ordinary officers of state were subject to the dictator and he could dismiss them if they disobeyed. He was granted the power to rule by decree and change laws or introduce new ones without the usual ratification by the assemblies of the people. He could act without consulting the senate, though he us usually did.

He had the power to punish without trial by the assembly of the people (the normal procedure) and there was no right to appeal his sentences (the right to appeal was suspended). He was immune from accountability and his actions were not held to account at the end of his office (ordinary officers of state could be prosecuted after their term). A great source of power for the dictator was the fact that he ruled on his own - normally the two consuls who could veto each other.

The office of the dictator was used strictly for emergencies and he was given only six months to deal with them. This was to prevent him from trying to seek absolute power permanently. Usually dictators resigned as soon as the job in their mandate was finished and often this occurred before the six month had elapsed. Only two men held the Dictatorship for longer than six months: Sulla and Julius Caesar. Another limitation to his power was that he did not have control over the treasury.

The term dictator did not have a negative connotation until Sulla used his dictatorship (81 BC) to execute the people who had opposed him in his civil war with Gaius Marius. After Rome's expansion into Italy, apart from three exceptions (one in the First Punic War and two during the Second Punic War), dictators were no longer appointed. This was because wars were fought far from Rome and it was feared that a man with such great powers could become dangerous if he was far from Rome.