in Antiquity, the highest extraordinary magistrate of the Roman republic. The original name of this office was *magister populi*, by which appellation he was called in the sacred books down to the latest times of the commonwealth.

When the republican form of government was established at Rome, and the supreme executive vested in the two consuls, emergencies sometimes occurred in which it seemed that the safety of the state might advantageously be intrusted for the time to some one man, whose past life had gained for him the esteem and respect of the whole body of the citizens. The idea of this office was borrowed by the Romans from the constitution of some of the Latin towns which they had subdued. It lay with the senate to decide when the services of a dictator were necessary. The power of nominating a man to the office was by that body made over to one of the consuls. It is not exactly determined to which of these offices the nomination of a dictator properly appertained. Sometimes it was the consul who happened to have the fasces at the time; sometimes it was he who happened to be nearest the city; at other times the consuls themselves either drew lots or came to an agreement as to which of them should perform the duty. In any case the nomination of the consul was indispensable; and so important was it considered, that on one occasion when both the consuls refused to name a person for the dictatorship, the senate had recourse to the tribunes of the people, to whose influence the consuls were obliged to give way.

On another occasion, when it was found impossible to communicate with the surviving consul, after the battle of the Thrasymenus, the senate and people were compelled to provide for the crisis by electing a pro-dictator.

As soon as the consul had fixed upon a properly qualified person, he took the auspices with much solemnity, and immediately afterwards issued his proclamation in due form. This latter ceremony required always to be performed some time between midnight and morning. As soon as the dictator was nominated, the imperium was conferred upon him, and the duties of his office were also immediately placed at his disposal. These were—first, the lictors, twenty-four in number, who bore the fasces and secures; second, the curule chair; and third, the toga praetexta.

The first dictator was appointed at Rome B.C. 501, nine years after the expulsion of the Tarquins. Who the first dictator was, is differently stated by different historians; but it is most probable that T. Lartius was the man, and that his nomination was rendered necessary by the prospect of a formidable war with the allied Latin states.

Dictators appointed, as T. Lartius was, to manage the foreign relations of the state, were said to be chosen *rei gerundae causâ*, or *seditiones sedandae causâ*; but it often happened that in matters of less importance than a foreign war, a dictator was appointed with nominal authority. This officer was generally selected in the absence of the consuls to perform some small ceremonies, which in strict propriety could only be gone through by one of the consuls. Thus a dictator was sometimes chosen to hold the comitia, to appoint holidays, to affix the *clavis annalis* in the temple of Jupiter, and to preside at trials.

As soon as the dictator was appointed, he was required to select a master of the horse (*magister equitum*), whose term of office was the same as his own. Should the master of horse die before the lapse of six months, it was necessary to appoint a successor. Like the dictator, to whom he was subject in all things, he received his commission by a *lex curiata*. In the absence of his principal, he was entitled to act independently, though he was always held responsible for any mismanagement that might occur under his command.

The power of the dictator was absolute; and so long as he remained in office no appeal was open against his mandates to any other authority in the state. He was nearly altogether independent of the senate. He could inflict much severer punishments than the consul without being liable, as these officers were, to have his sentence reversed by the assembly of the people. His power was as irresponsible as it was absolute. It is stated by Festus that an appeal could be made against the decrees of the dictator. This, however, seems to be a mistake on the part of that historian, for, in the only case which ever occurred to test that principle, the dictator (L. Papirius) denounced the appeal as incompetent to his accusers, from the tenure by which he held his office. In token of the absolute power of the dictators over the lives of their fellow-citizens, their lictors bore the axe in the midst of the fasces, even in their walks through the city—a mark of distinction which the consuls had formerly enjoyed, but which had been abolished in their case by the Valerian law.

Though the power of the dictators was thus great, it was, nevertheless, limited by certain indirect restrictions. The most important of these was, that the dictator had no control whatever over the public money, and had to content himself with such sums as were allowed him by the senate. He was not allowed to leave Italy; and could not appear on horseback in the city without the express permission of the people. The surest safeguard, however, against any treacherous designs on the part of the dictator was the shortness of the period during which he remained