The course examines the conceptual and political history of dictatorship. It traces its origins in Roman antiquity, follows its modern rediscovery, and examines its evolution and transformations from 19th century Bonapartism to 20th century fascism to the current insurgent authoritarianism of the far right. We will treat dictatorship as a central yet evolving borderline concept through which we can explore and interrogate the themes of crisis, emergency rule, state of exception, capitalism, and the making of modern state sovereignty. The course also focuses on the political logic and the associated justifications that have informed theories and practices of dictatorship in an attempt to elucidate and reconstruct the broader paradigm of politics that became associated with this concept. Respectively, we will critically investigate the historical impact of the concept and the practice of dictatorship in terms of violence and war and its antagonistic relation to democracy.