The Roman Dictatorship

Everything Everywhere Daily

Gary Arndt

History, Education

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2023

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During the Roman Republic, the highest office that someone could aspire to was the position of consult. Every year, two men were elected consul, and it was such a high honor it would help your family for generations. …except that it actually wasn’t the highest office. There was one office that was higher, but you couldn’t be elected to it. Someone could only be appointed, only for a limited amount of time and only in extreme circumstances. Learn more about the Roman Dictatorship, what the position was, and how it was eventually exploited on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Newspapers.com Newspapers.com is like a time machine. Dive into their extensive online archives to explore history as it happened. With over 800 million digitized newspaper pages spanning three centuries, Newspapers.com provides an unparalleled gateway to the past, with papers from the US, UK, Canada, Australia and beyond. Use the code “EverythingEverywhere” at checkout to get 20% off a publisher extra subscription at newspapers.com. ButcherBox ButcherBox is the perfect solution for anyone looking to eat high-quality, sustainably sourced meat without the hassle of going to the grocery store. With ButcherBox, you can enjoy a variety of grass-fed beef, heritage pork, free-range chicken, and wild-caught seafood delivered straight to your door every month. ButcherBox.com/Daily Subscribe to the podcast! https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Peter Bennett & Cameron Kieffer Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	During the Roman Republic, the highest office that someone could aspire to was that of Consul.
0:04.7	Every year, two men were elected Consul, and it was such a high honor, it would help your family for generations.
0:10.9	Except that it actually wasn't the highest office.
0:14.0	There was one office that was even higher, but you couldn't be elected to it.
0:18.0	Someone could only be appointed, only for a limited amount of time and only in extreme circumstances.
0:24.0	Learn more about the Roman dictatorship, what the position was and how it was eventually exploited
0:29.2	on this episode of Everything everywhere daily. Book your ticket to happiness with Sun Express Airlines. So, When I say the word dictator, negative things probably come into your mind, you might
1:10.1	envision people like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, or Iy Amin.
1:14.3	To be sure, all of those men were dictators, tyrants, and despots.
1:18.6	When I'm talking about Roman dictators, that isn't quite the same thing as the modern definition of a dictator.
1:25.0	In the context of the Roman Republic, a dictator was an actual legal position.
1:30.3	It was distinct from someone who is just a bad ruler in a tyrant like Nero,
1:34.2	Caligula, or Commodus. To be even more explicit, dictators were not emperors.
1:40.2	They were completely different positions that existed at different points in history.
1:45.0	The term dictator comes from the Latin term dictare, which simply means to dictate.
1:51.0	The origins of the position are like so many things shrouded in history.
1:55.9	It isn't known when the position developed, but as far as the Romans themselves were concerned,
2:00.1	the position was established in the earliest days of the Republic right after the fall of the last
2:04.8	Roman king Tarquinius. The experience with kings left a bad taste in the mouth of the Romans.
2:11.2	After Tarquinius, they set up a system such that it would be nearly impossible for one person to rule everyone.
2:17.0	Their top elected leaders were known as Consoles.
2:20.0	They were always elected in pairs with each one able to veto the other.
	...

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