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A dictator was an extraordinary Roman magistrate appointed for a particular task. In Republican tradition, a consul usually nominated him following a Senate decision or recommendation. The dictator appointed a master of the horse (magister equitum); other magistracies did not cease to exist.
An ordinary dictatorship was limited by its purpose and, traditionally, a maximum term of six months. The dictator’s authority exceeded that of ordinary magistrates but was not wholly free of religious, legal or political constraints. The late Republican senatus consultum ultimum did not itself appoint a dictator: it called on existing magistrates to protect the state.
Dictators could be appointed to conduct war (rei gerundae causa), hold elections (comitiorum habendorum causa), perform certain religious acts or undertake other special tasks. Senatus legendi causa meant revising and replenishing the Senate’s membership, not raising money.
The dictatorships of Sulla and Caesar differed from the ordinary emergency office. Sulla received authority to make laws and reorganise the state in 82 BCE and later resigned it. Caesar held repeated dictatorships; in 44 BCE he received the designation dictator perpetuo. The office was abolished after his assassination.
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