Cursus Honorum - Dictator and Magister Equitum

Dictator and Magister Equitum

Of all the offices within the Roman Republic, none granted as much power and authority as the position of dictator, known as the Master of the People. In times of emergencies, the Senate would declare that a dictator was required, and the current consuls would appoint a dictator. This was the only decision that could not be vetoed by the Tribune of the Plebs. The dictator was the sole exception to the Roman legal principles of having multiple magistrates in the same office and being legally able to be held to answer for actions in office. Essentially by definition, only one dictator could serve at a time, and no dictator could ever be held legally responsible for any action during his time in office for any reason.

The dictator was the highest magistrate in degree of imperium and was attended by twenty-four lictors (as were the former Kings of Rome). Although his term lasted only six months instead of twelve (except for the Dictatorships of Sulla and Caesar), all other magistrates reported to the dictator (except for the tribunes of the plebs - although they could not veto any of the dictator's acts), granting the dictator absolute authority in both civil and military matters throughout the Republic. The Dictator was free from the control of the Senate in all that he did, could execute anyone without a trial for any reason, and could ignore any law in the performance of his duties. The Dictator was the sole magistrate under the Republic that was truly independent in discharging his duties. All of the other offices were extensions of the Senate's executive authority and thus answerable to the Senate. Since the Dictator exercised his own authority, he did not suffer this limitation, which was the cornerstone of the office's power.

When a Dictator entered office, he appointed to serve as his second-in-command a magister equitum, the Master of the Horse, whose office ceased to exist once the Dictator left office. The magister equitum held Praetorian imperium, was attended by six lictors, and was charged with assisting the Dictator in managing the State. When the Dictator was away from Rome, the magister equitum usually remained behind to administer the city. The magister equitum, like the Dictator, had unchallengeable authority in all civil and military affairs, with his decisions only being overturned by the Dictator himself.

The Dictatorship was definitively abolished in 44 BC after the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar.