ABSTRACT
The terms dittatore and dittatura occurred frequently in the political struggle of the Risorgimento and the associated debate on ideas. In the vast majority of cases, the meaning is descriptive and positive, at times laudatory. Looking at the dictionaries and encyclopaedias – traditionally and structurally sluggish and slow to incorporate new developments in political and cultural language – it can be noted that the prevalent reference in the first half of the nineteenth century was to the ancient Roman dictatorship, with increasing attention subsequently being given to modern dictatorships. Specific textual evidence and direct or indirect testimony does not exist, as things stand, to support such a hypothesis. The classic notion of dictatorship emerges in the decrees conferring dictatorial power on Bolivar. There are resonances between Bolívar’s thinking and the positions subsequently adopted by Garibaldi, regarding both military dictatorship and educative dictatorship.
