Roman dictator

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A Roman dictator was an extraordinary magistrate of the Roman Republic, endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the other magistrates, consuls included, for the specific purpose of resolving that issue, and only that issue, and then dispensing with those powers immediately. A dictator was still controlled and accountable during his term of office: the Senate still exercised some oversight authority, and the rights of plebeian tribunes to veto his actions or of the people to appeal them were retained. The extent of a dictator's mandate strictly controlled the ends to which his powers could be directed. Dictators were also—at least in some cases—liable to prosecution after their terms completed. Dictators were frequently appointed from the earliest period of the Republic down to the Second Punic War (218–201 BC), but the magistracy then went into abeyance for over a century. It was...

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