Dictator
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A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency.
20th-century leaders typically described as dictators, from left to right and top to bottom, include Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany; Augusto Pinochet, President of Chile; Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party; Benito Mussolini, Duce and Prime Minister of Italy; Kim Il Sung, Supreme Leader of North Korea
Julius Caesar outmaneuvered his opponents in Ancient Rome to install himself as dictator for life.
Giuseppe Garibaldi proclaimed himself dictator of Sicily in 1860.
Under Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Syrian military inflicted industrial-scale atrocities on civilian population during the Syrian civil war. These include hundreds of chemical attacks, such as the Ghouta chemical attack, the largest chemical attack in the 21st century.
Roman dictator
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A Roman dictator was an extraordinary magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the other magistrates, consuls included, for the specific purpose of resolving that issue, and that issue only, and then dispensing with those powers immediately.
Denarius of Publius Sepullius Macer, 44 BC, with the head of Julius Caesar on the obverse. The legend mentions that Caesar was dictator perpetuo.
Depiction of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus. Fabius was dictator in 217 BC.
Head presumed to be that of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Sulla was dictator from 82 to 79 BC.
Depiction of the Assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (mid 19th century).