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The Top Benevolent and Malevolent Dictators From History

Khalid Elhassan November 30, 2020 32 min

Augustus - Ancient Rome — 'The Emperor Augustus Rebukes Cornelius Cinna for His Treachery', by Etienne Jean Delecluze, 1814 - Augustus pardoned Cinna and gave him a government job. Van Go Yourself

31. Rome Used Dictators During Emergencies for Centuries, Before Serious Abuses Brought the Office of Dictator Into Disrepute

Roman legion from the era of the Punic Wars. Pintrest

The Roman Republic’s existence spanned five centuries, from 509 BC to 27 BC. During that time, dozens of dictators were appointed to deal with extraordinary emergencies. The appointments were most frequent during the 5^th and 4^th centuries BC, then began tapering off in the 3^rd century BC.

Abuses of the office were few and far in between, and many dictators behaved in an exemplary manner that transformed them into Roman icons and national heroes. After 202 BC, no dictators were appointed for 120 years, until 82 BC, when a Roman general, Sulla, got himself appointed dictator. As will be seen, he was no benign dictator, and his abuse of the office caused many Romans to consider abolishing the position of dictator for good.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.