List of Roman dictators

A list of all of the Roman dictators and magistri equitum known from ancient sources. In some cases the names or dates have been inferred by modern historians.

Key to Latin terms and phrases

Roman dictators were usually appointed for a specific purpose, or causa, which limited the scope of their activities. The chief causae were rei gerundae (a general purpose, usually to lead an army in the field against a particular enemy), clavi figendi (an important religious rite involving the driving of a nail into the wall of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus), and comitiorum habendorum (the holding of the comitia to elect magistrates, when the consuls were unable to do so).

Other causae included ludorum faciendorum (holding the Roman games, an important religious festival), ferarium constituendarum (establishing a religious festival in response to serious prodigies); seditionis sedandae (quelling sedition), and in one remarkable case, senatus legendi (filling up the ranks of the Senate after the Battle of Cannae).

The causa given at the very end of the Republic for the dictatorships of Sulla and Caesar are completely novel, as the powers granted greatly exceeded those traditionally accorded a Roman dictator. By legibus faciendis et rei publicae constituendae causa, Sulla was empowered to rewrite the laws and revise the constitution of the Roman state; by dictator perpetuo rei publicae constituendae causa, Caesar was appointed dictator in perpetuity, and given the power to revise the constitution.

The various causae may not have been legally distinguished from one another prior to 368 BC, when Publius Manlius Capitolinus was appointed dictator seditionis sedandae et rei gerundae causa. The precise formula of each causa later reported by ancient historians may only date to Manlius' dictatorship, in which case the causae attributed to earlier dictators must be later additions.[1]

Other phrases

• abdicavit – abdicated, or resigned.
• mortuus est – died in office.
• non iniit – not inaugurated.
• occisus est – killed, slain.
• sine magistro equitum – without a magister equitum.

Roman numerals given following a name indicate that the dictator or magister equitum for that year previously held the same magistracy. The causae listed in the table are based largely on T. R. S. Broughton's The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, reporting those given in ancient sources. For cases in which no causa is given, rei gerundae may usually be inferred.

List of dictators and magistri equitum

6th and 5th centuries BC

Year BC	Year AUC	Dictator	Magister Equitum	Notes
501	253	Titus Lartius Flavus[lower-roman 1]	Spurius Cassius Viscellinus	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose)
496	255	Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis	Titus Aebutius Elva
494	260	Manius Valerius Volusus Maximus	Quintus Servilius Priscus Structus
463	291	(Gaius Aemilius Mamercus)[lower-roman 2]	not recorded	clavi figendi causa (for a religious rite)
458	296	Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus	Lucius Tarquitius Flaccus
439	315	Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus II	Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala
437	317	Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus	Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
435	319	Quintus Servilius Priscus Structus Fidenas	Postumus Aebutius Elva Cornicen
434	320	Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus II	Aulus Postumius Tubertus
431	323	Aulus Postumius Tubertus	Lucius Julius Iulus
426	328	Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus III	Aulus Cornelius Cossus
418	336	Quintus Servilius Priscus Structus Fidenas II	Gaius Servilius Structus Axilla
408	346	Publius Cornelius Rutilus Cossus	Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala

4th century BC

Year BC	Year AUC	Dictator	Magister Equitum	Notes
396	358	Marcus Furius Camillus	Publius Cornelius Maluginensis
390	364	Marcus Furius Camillus II	Lucius Valerius Potitus
389	365	Marcus Furius Camillus III	Gaius Servilius Ahala
385	369	Aulus Cornelius Cossus	Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus Capitolinus
380	374	Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus Capitolinus	Aulus Sempronius Atratinus
368	386	Marcus Furius Camillus IV	Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose)
368	386	Publius Manlius Capitolinus	Gaius Licinius Calvus	seditionis sedandae et rei gerundae causa (for quelling sedition and for a general purpose)
367	387	Marcus Furius Camillus V	Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus Capitolinus	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose)
363	391	Lucius Manlius Capitolinus Imperiosus	Lucius Pinarius Natta	clavi figendi causa (for a religious rite)
362	392	Appius Claudius Crassus Regillensis	Publius Cornelius Scapula?
361	393	Titus Quinctius Pennus Capitolinus Crispinus	Servius Cornelius Maluginensis	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose)
360	394	Quintus Servilius Ahala	Titus Quinctius Pennus Capitolinus Crispinus	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose)
358	396	Gaius Sulpicius Peticus	Marcus Valerius Poplicola
356	398	Gaius Marcius Rutilus	Gaius Plautius Proculus
353	401	Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus	Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina
352	402	Gaius Julius Iulus	Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus
351	403	Marcus Fabius Ambustus	Quintus Servilius Ahala	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
350	404	Lucius Furius Camillus	Publius Cornelius Scipio	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
349	405	Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus II	Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina II	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
348	406	(Gaius Claudius Crassinus Regillensis)	(Gaius Livius Denter)	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates); names uncertain [lower-roman 3]
345	409	Lucius Furius Camillus II	Gnaeus Manlius Capitolinus Imperiosus
344	410	Publius Valerius Poplicola	Quintus Fabius Ambustus	ferarium constituendarum causa (for establishing a religious festival)
342	412	Marcus Valerius Corvus	Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus Privernas
340	414	Lucius Papirius Crassus	Lucius Papirius Cursor
339	415	Quintus Publilius Philo	Decimus Junius Brutus Scaeva
337	417	Gaius Claudius Crassinus Regillensis	Gaius Claudius Hortator	abdicavit (abdicated)
335	419	Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus Privernas	Quintus Publilius Philo	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
334 to 333	420 to 421	Publius Cornelius Rufinus	Marcus Antonius	abdicavit (abdicated); 333 the first of the "dictator years".[lower-roman 4]
332	422	Marcus Papirius Crassus	Publius Valerius Poplicola
331	423	Gnaeus Quinctilius Varus or  Gnaeus Quinctius Capitolinus	Lucius Valerius Potitus	clavi figendi causa (for a religious rite)
327	427	Marcus Claudius Marcellus	Spurius Postumius Albinus	comitiorum habendorum causa; abdicavit (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates; abdicated)
325 to 324	429 to 430	Lucius Papirius Cursor	Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose); 324 the second of the "dictator years"[lower-roman 4]
322	432	Aulus Cornelius Cossus Arvina	Marcus Fabius Ambustus	rei gerundae (for a general purpose) or ludi faciendorum causa (for holding the Roman games) [lower-roman 5]
321	433	Quintus Fabius Ambustus	Publius Aelius Paetus	comitiorum habendorum causa; abdicavit (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates; abdicated)
321	433	Marcus Aemilius Papus	Lucius Valerius Flaccus	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
320	434	Gaius Maenius	Marcus Foslius Flaccinator	causa uncertain [lower-roman 6]
320	434	Lucius Cornelius Lentulus	Lucius Papirius Cursor II
320	434	Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus III	Lucius Papirius Crassus
316	438	Lucius Aemilius Mamercinus Privernas II	Lucius Fulvius Curvus	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose)
315	439	Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus	Quintus Aulius Cerretanus Gaius Fabius Ambustus	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose)
314	440	Gaius Maenius II	Marcus Foslius Flaccinator II	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose)
313	441	Gaius Poetilius Libo Visolus or  Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus II	Marcus Foslius Flaccinator III or  Marcus Poetilius Libo	rei gerundae (et clavi figendi?) causa (for a general purpose; and for a religious rite?) [lower-roman 7]
312	442	Gaius Sulpicius Longus	Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose) [lower-roman 8]
310 to 309	444 to 445	Lucius Papirius Cursor II	Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus II	309 the third of the "dictator years"[lower-roman 4]
306	448	Publius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus	Publius Decius Mus	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
302	452	Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus	Marcus Titinius
302 to 301	452 to 453	Marcus Valerius Maximus Corvus II	Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus?  or Marcus Aemilius Paullus?	301 the fourth and last of the "dictator years"[lower-roman 4]

3rd century BC

Year BC	Year AUC	Dictator	Magister Equitum	Notes
287	467	Quintus Hortensius mortuus est	not recorded
287	467	Appius Claudius Caecus?	not recorded	dictator suffectus? (a substitute dictator?) [lower-roman 9]
285	469	Marcus Aemilius Barbula?	not recorded	date uncertain [lower-roman 10]
280	474	Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus Maximus	not recorded	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
276	478	Publius Cornelius Rufinus?	not recorded	date uncertain [lower-roman 11]
263	491	Gnaeus Fulvius Maximus Centumalus	Quintus Marcius Philippus	clavi figendi causa (for a religious rite)
257	497	Quintus Ogulnius Gallus	Marcus Laetorius Plancianus	Latinarum feriarum causa (for the Latin festival)
249	505	Marcus Claudius Glicia		abdicavit (abdicated) [lower-roman 12]
249	505	Aulus Atilius Calatinus	Lucius Caecilius Metellus
246	508	Tiberius Coruncanius	Marcus Fulvius Flaccus	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
231	523	Gaius Duilius	Gaius Aurelius Cotta	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
224	530	Lucius Caecilius Metellus	Numerius Fabius Buteo	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
221	533	Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus	Gaius Flaminius	date uncertain [lower-roman 13]
217	537	Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus II	Marcus Minucius Rufus	Minucius was given authority equal to a dictator's [lower-roman 14]
217	537	Lucius Veturius Philo	Marcus Pomponius Matho	comitiorum habendorum causa; abdicavit (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates; abdicated)
216	538	Marcus Junius Pera	Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus
216	538	Marcus Fabius Buteo	sine magistro equitum	senatus legendi causa (for filling the Senate) [lower-roman 15]
213	541	Gaius Claudius Centho	Quintus Fulvius Flaccus	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
210	544	Quintus Fulvius Flaccus	Publius Licinius Crassus Dives	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
208	546	Titus Manlius Torquatus	Gaius Servilius Geminus	comitiorum habendorum et ludorum faciendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates and for holding the Roman games)
207	547	Marcus Livius Salinator	Quintus Caecilius Metellus	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
205	549	Quintus Caecilius Metellus	Lucius Veturius Philo	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
203	551	Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus	Marcus Servilius Pulex Geminus	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)
202	552	Gaius Servilius Geminus	Publius Aelius Paetus	comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates)

1st century BC

Year BC	Year AUC	Dictator	Magister Equitum	Notes
82 to 81	672 to 673	Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix	Lucius Valerius Flaccus	legibus faciendis et rei publicae constituendae causa (to rewrite the laws and revise the constitution)
49	705	Gaius Julius Caesar	sine magistro equitum	rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose)
48	706	Gaius Julius Caesar II	Marcus Antonius
47 to 44	707 to 710	Gaius Julius Caesar III	Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
44	710	Gaius Julius Caesar IV occisus est	Marcus Aemilius Lepidus II Gaius Octavius Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus (non iniit)	dictator perpetuo rei publicae constituendae causa (as dictator in perpetuity with the power to revise the constitution)

See also

• Constitution of the Roman Republic
• Dictator

Footnotes

1. The name of the first dictator is also given as Manius Valerius, but Livy rejects this in favor of Titus Lartius Flavus on the basis of the law that only consulars could be named dictator; Valerius had not yet been named consul. Broughton follows Livy in this.[2]
2. No dictator is listed for this year in the fasti consulares, but Lydus says that there was a dictator in the forty-eighth year of the Republic. Bendel links this with the story that the senate appointed a dictator clavi figendi causa (for a religious rite) in 363 BC because that had worked to stop a pestilence a century earlier and concludes that Mamercus was this dictator. Broughton sees this as an insufficient reason to say that Mamercus was dictator in 463 BC, and suggests that Lydus has mistaken an interrex for a dictator.[3]
3. The names of the dictator and magister equitum for this year are missing from the consular fasti, and not explicitly stated by any ancient author. The Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology inserts these names, although the basis for them is not stated.[4][5]
4. The fasti consulares, but no other source, list four years in which there was a dictator but no consuls elected: 333, 324, 309, and 301. In each case, Livy includes the names of the dictator and magister equitum under the previous year's consuls.[6]
5. The sources for the causa of this dictator conflict. Most historians accept that Cornelius carried on the Ludi Romani games when the praetor fell ill, and attempt to explain how an annalist would have altered the records to make this a dictator rei gerundae causa.[7]
6. Maenius is one of three dictators appointed in 320, none of whom is listed as having abdicated and been replaced by another dictator. This fact, combined with the fact that Cornelius can only have been appointed rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose), her conclusion that Manlius was appointed comitiorum habendorum causa (for a holding of the comitia to elect magistrates), and her judgment that the quaestionibus exercendis cannot have been Maenius' causa and is never said to be by Livy (the source of the phrase), lead Hartfield to conclude that Maenius must have had a religious function. She cannot conclude which religious causa he might have had, except that it certainly was not clavi figendi causa (for a religious rite).[8]
7. Livy and the fasti consulares suggest that Poetelius was dictator rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose), but Livy preserves a source who claims that one of the consuls that year instead captured the town Poetelius was said to have captured and that his dictatorship was instead clavi figendi causa (for a religious rite). Some modern historians do not dismiss this alternate account. Because a dictator rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose) would not have hammered in the sacred nail, Hartfield adduces that he must have been appointed dictator twice this year, if he did so. Diodorus Siculus attributes the victories credited to Gaius Poetelius Libo Visolus to one Κόιντος Φάβιος (Quintus Fabius) instead.[9]
8. The fasti consulares list Gaius Sulpicius Longus as the dictator rei gerundae causa (for a general purpose) and Gaius Junius Bubulcus Brutus as his magister equitum, but Livy names the latter as dictator, without following his usual procedure of recording the magister equitum.[10]
9. Three dictators are known only from various literary sources. Historians date them to a period for which the fasti consulares and Livy's history are missing but nothing about their causa can be known.[11] One of these was probably dictator suffectus after the death of Quintus Hortensius in 287 BC. Mommsen suggested that this was Claudius.[12]
10. One of three dictators known from literary sources, but not found in the surviving portions of the consular fasti or Livy's history. Broughton concludes that they must have held office between 292 and 285 BC, and lists them under the latest possible date.
11. The third of three dictators known from literary sources, but not found in the surviving portions of the consular fasti or Livy's history. Although Broughton concluded that they must have held office between 292 and 285 BC, the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology places Rufinus in 276, during the war with Pyrrhus, noting, however, that Niebuhr placed his dictatorship in 280, after the Battle of Heraclea.[13]
12. Nominated by the consul Publius Claudius Pulcher after the Senate had relieved him of his command following the Battle of Drepana. Glicia was a freedman and a scribe; as such he was considered wholly unsuitable for the office and compelled to resign even before he could name his magister equitum. The precise means by which his resignation was procured is unclear. Aulus Atilius Calatinus was appointed in Claudius' stead. Notwithstanding his humble origin, Glicia was recorded as dictator in the consular fasti, and continued to wear the toga praetexta as a symbol of the honour. In 236 BC, he was a legate under the consul Gaius Licinius Varus, but after granting a treaty without permission from the Senate or the consul, was handed over to the enemy, who returned him unharmed; he was then imprisoned, banished, or put to death.[14][15][16]
13. Livy says that Fabius was appointed dictator for the second time in 217. Broughton adduces that he must have been dictator during a gap in the Capitoline fasti from 221 to 219, and before Livy's history resumes in 218. Since Flaminius was censor in 220 and 219, Broughton places this dictatorship in 221.[17]
14. Minucius, the magister equitum, vehemently opposed the dictator's delaying strategy against Hannibal, and induced a tribune of the plebs to propose a law granting him authority equal to that of the dictator. Some scholars therefore regard Minucius as a second dictator, while others describe him as a magister equitum with dictatorial imperium. Since ancient sources refer to Minucius as having been dictator, those who consider him merely magister equitum during Fabius' dictatorship suggest that Minucius later held the office during a period for which Livy's history is missing, perhaps in order to hold the comitia.[18][19]
15. This is the only instance of this causa. The Senate appointed a dictator to enroll new senators after the Battle of Cannae, instead of holding elections for new censors to carry out the same task.

References

1. Hartfield, pp. (?).
2. Broughton, vol. I, p. 9.
3. Broughton, vol. I, p. 35 (note 2).
4. Broughton, vol. I, p. 130.
5. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. I, pp. 993 ("Livius Denter, no. 1"), vol. III, p. 1354 ("Chronological Tables of Roman History").
6. Broughton, vol. I, p. 141.
7. Hartfield, p. 420.
8. Hartfield, pp. 425–428.
9. Hartfield, pp. 443–451.
10. Hartfield, pp. 452–454.
11. Hartfield, pp. 471–476.
12. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 185–187.
13. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. III, pp. 665 ("Cornelius Rufinus" no. 2), 1357 ("Chronological Tables of Roman History").
14. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. II, p. 276 (Glicia).
15. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 215, 223.
16. Hartfield, pp. 480–483.
17. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 234, 235.
18. Hartfield, pp. 489–499.
19. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 243, 244.

Bibliography

• Marianne Elizabeth Hartfield, The Roman Dictatorship: its Character and Evolution (Ph.D. dissertation), University of California, Berkeley (1981).
• T. Robert S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic, American Philological Association (1952).