In its modern usage, the term dictator is almost always utilized as a pejorative label for someone who rules oppressively

and unchallenged. Adolf Hitler, for instance, is generally considered to have been a dictator,

ruling over Germany for more than a decade, achieving power through democratic means,

and technically maintaining counterbalancing power structures, but nonetheless essentially

unchallengeable in practice. Benito Mussolini of Italy and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, too,

are generally considered to have been dictatorial rulers, though there are methods of attaining

that status and the specifics of how they climbed the ranks and consolidated

their power, varies. The term dictator was not always considered to be a bad thing, though. It was

just a title that referred to a certain collection of responsibilities and a particular type of power.

The concept of Justidium in the Roman Republic, which was the period between the

Roman kingdom and the Roman Empire, and which lasted for nearly 500 years, between about 509 to 27 BCE.

This concept referred to what's sometimes called a state of exception, instigated during a period of emergency.

So after a ruler dies or during an invasion, the republic, which means they had rule by the people

through a Senate and other legislative bodies, and they had a constitution outlining citizens'

rights, at such moments where time is of the essence and things are not

normal, and the stable status quo is under threat, such a period could be declared, and a magistrate,

an elected official, would be declared dictator, given nearly incontestable power for the period

of the emergency, or for six months, whichever

was shorter.

During this period, the dictator would be sworn to a cause, fending off the impending

invasion, perhaps, or maintaining public safety until a new leader was elected.

The dictator could do things like convene meetings of the Senate, but a lot of

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