• TokenBoomer@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    4 months ago

    All democracies turn into dictatorships - but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it’s Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea.

    George Lucas

    • oo1@lemmings.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      4 months ago

      Didn’t Caesar literally march his army into Rome? ‘crossing the rubicon’ - and then there was a thing called the roman civil war

      • FanciestPants@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        Yeah. There was also the title, literally “dictator”, that was bestowed on individuals in times of crisis (or perceived crisis), and in some cases the power of the dictator was returned to the republic when the crisis was addressed (see Cincinnatus). Rome had an established process for giving power to the dictator.