Appunti preliminari circa la controversa abrogazione della dittatura romana

This essay aims to inquire into the historical circumstances and legal reasons that led to the disappearance of the Roman dictatorship in the late republican and early imperial period. According to the classical point of view a lex Antonia, approved immediately after Caesar's death, would have abrogated this magistracy - not only in its final form, i.e. without a time limit, but also in its original setting - and the Augustan refusal to hold it in 22 BC would have been due to compliance with this law. However, from a previous but complete overview of the sources, oriented to a broader work, it appears that this theory is undermined by several inconsistencies: on reflection, the final suppression of the magistracy should be attributed directly to Augustus, for reasons peculiar and independent of the lex Antonia de dictatura tollenda, perhaps swept away by the senatorial enactments that took place at the beginning of 43 BC.