Why did the Romans choose a dictator in emergencies?

Answer 1

In times of crisis, it was thought that one person could unite and coordinate the (usually) military steps that had to be taken to solve the problem. By giving one person supreme authority, there would be no one to veto his proposals and no pesky politicians to limit the army's actions.

In addition, a dictator was immune from prosecution for any of his actions as dictator - which meant he could take extreme measures without fearing legal consequences.

Answer 2

The purpose of the Roman dictators was to settle matters if the consuls should reach a deadlock or to prevent split command among quarreling consuls during a military emergency. They were later used for command in the event of absent consuls.

Answer 3

The term dictator had a different meaning to the Romans. The dictator was originally created as an extraordinary officer of state who was appointed during military emergencies in the early days of the Roman Republic when Rome faced repeated attacks by neighbouring peoples. His term of office was six months. He took over the consuls, who were the two annually elected heads of the republic and lead an army each, when there was a need to have a sole commander of the army or to have man with better military leadership skills in charge. He was appointed by one of the consuls and he was given a specific mandate by a senatorial decree. Once the dictator completed his mandate he resigned, even if this was before the six months were up. Several times during the Second Punic War a dictator was appointed to preside over elections of executive officers. One dictator was appointed to put down a rebellion. In 82 BC, after a 120-year lapse, Lucius Cornelius Sulla was appointed to reform the Roman constitution and was given an indeterminate mandate. He resigned after one year, He gave the Dictatorship a bad name because he used his extraordinary powers to have thousands of his political opponents executed. He was appointed dictator after he won a civil war against his main opponent, Gaius Marius. Julius Caesar was appointed dictator four times. The first time (49 BC) it was to preside over his own election as consul and he resigned after 17 days. The second time (48 BC) he was appointed for one year, the third (46 BC) for ten years and the fourth (44 BC) for life. During the 482 years of the Roman Republic a dictator was appointed 88 times. Since some men were appointed as dictators more than once, in total 75 men were appointed as dictators.

The dictator was an extraordinary officer of state. All ordinary officer of state became his subordinates and had to obey his orders. He could act without consulting the senate and he had immunity for his actions after the end of his term of office (the ordinary officers were accountable after the end of their office and could be prosecuted). He could punish without trial and was exempt from the citizens' right to appeal to the people. He could rule by decree, and could introduce new laws without submitting them to the vote of the popular assemblies. However, dictators usually did not exercise these extraordinary powers and worked in collaboration with the senate, except when circumstances impeded this. After the Second Punic War no dictators (apart from Sulla and Caesar) were appointed. It was feared that as Rome's wars started to be fought outside Italy, that with his extraordinary powers, he could be a danger if he was far from Rome. Instead, the senate issued a senatus consultum ultimum, an emergency decree which authorised one of the consuls to take whatever action he thought fit to deal with the emergency. In one occasion, during a period of military difficulties, Gaius Marius was elected consul six times in a row, despite a law forbidding this.