Adolf Hitler (right), dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Benito Mussolini (left), dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943.
A dictator is a political leader who possesses autocratic power and wields it in an oppressive or abusive manner. A state ruled by a dictator is called a dictatorship. The word originated as the title of a magistrate in the Roman Republic appointed by the Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency (see Roman dictator and justitium).[1]