Dictator: The Evolution of the Roman Dictatorship PDF
Preview Dictator: The Evolution of the Roman Dictatorship
Dictator Dictator The Evolution of the Roman Dictatorship Mark B. Wilson University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor Copyright © 2021 by Mark B. Wilson All rights reserved For questions or permissions, please contact [email protected] Published in the United States of America by the University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid- free paper First published September 2021 A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Wilson, Mark B. author. | Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), publisher. Title: Dictator : the evolution of the Roman dictatorship / Mark B. Wilson Description: Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references (pages 427– 446) and indexes. | Identifiers: lccn 2021012761 (print) | isbn 9780472132669 (hardcover) | isbn 9780472129201 (electronic book) Subjects: LCSH: Dictators— Rome— History. | Political leadership— Rome— History. | Rome— Politics and government. | Rome— History— Republic, 510– 30 B.C. Classification: LCC dg83.5.d4 w55 2021 (print) | LCC dg83.5.d4 (ebook) | DDC 937/.02— dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021012761 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021012762 Cover image: Marble bust of a man. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1912. www.metmuseum.org Contents Part I: Haec Imperiosa Dictatura 1 Introduction 3 2 Narrative 9 3 Origins 31 Part II: Et Homo et Potestas 4 Need 63 5 Choice 95 6 Invocation 110 7 Mandate 138 8 Imperium 156 9 Answerability 189 10 Colleague 211 11 Renunciation 236 12 Principles 261 Part III: Αἱρετὴ Τυραννίς 13 Desuetude 267 14 Sulla 290 15 Caesar 303 16 Conclusions 332 vi / contents Appendices A Catalog of Dictatorships 341 B Catalog of Names 387 C Terms and Concepts 395 D Dictator Years 403 E Mommsen’s Dictatorship 409 Acknowledgments 423 Abbreviations 425 Bibliography 427 Index Rerum 447 Index Nominum 453 Index Locorum 463 Digital materials related to this title can be found on the Fulcrum platform via the following citable URL: https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.10150936 Part I Haec Imperiosa Dictatura “Ego sum M. Valerius Corvus, milites, cuius vos nobilitatem beneficiis erga vos non iniuriis sensistis, nullius superbae in vos legis, nullius crudelis senatus consulti auctor, in omnibus meis imperiis in me severior quam in uos. . . . Eodem tenore duo insequentes consulatus gessi, eodem haec imperiosa dictatura geretur.” “I am M. Valerius Corvus, soldiers, whose nobility has shown itself in benefit to you, not in harm. I have authored no oppressive laws nor cruel senatorial resolutions; in all my commands I have been stricter with myself than with you. . . . In that spirit I administered two successive consulships; so will this mighty dictatorship be administered.” Livy 7.40.7– 9 Quid nunc commemorem dictaturae hoc ipso consulari [imper]ium valentius repertum apud maiores nostros quo in a[s]perioribus bellis aut in civili motu difficiliore uterentur? Why need I now call to mind the dictatorship, with an imperium stronger even than the consuls’, devised by our ancestors to be made use of in exceptionally perilous wars or truly difficult civil disturbances? Speech of Claudius Caesar1 1 Introduction The Roman story is one of survival through adaptation. The problem of the executive is a case in point. When, according to age-o ld legends, the election of one chosen man to lifelong rule gave way to despotism and contempt for Roman values, the Romans shed their monarchy for shared aristocratic gover- nance via annual collegial magistracies. The Romans soon discovered, however, that this correction, while in many ways advantageous, created new vulnerabil- ities. The ordinary magistrates were elected according to general qualifications expected of all Roman clan leaders. What happened when a desperate crisis was best solved by a man who happened not to be among those presently invested with the power of office and the authority to command? For this contingency the Romans developed a singular response. Whenever an emergency— whether domestic, military, or religious— was not best solved by the magistrates already in power, the Roman people or the senate could call upon the consuls to cede superior executive authority to one individual suited by experience and temperament to resolve that crisis and restore Rome to its previous state of safety and stability. Effectively this invoked an emergency alternate executive for the duration of the crisis: a temporary dominion of the needed man. On resolution of the inciting problem, his last act was to abdicate his authority and restore ordinary government. 1. CIL 13.01668; cf. Tac. Ann. 11.24.
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