Cincinnatus: Difference between revisions
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Often overlaps with [[Call to Agriculture]], when the retired character decides to raise cabbages in manly obscurity.
Partly because this is a [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|highly idealistic]] trope, it's extremely rare in fiction, but notable for when it happens. However, it's [[Truth in Television]]: not only did it happen with '''Cincinnatus''', but all succeeding Roman ''dictators'' ("he who dictates [orders]") also willingly gave up power before or at the end of the prescribed six months, up to and throughout the Punic Wars. It is only with Sulla, after the office had not been used for over a hundred years, that any Roman attempted to abuse the dictatorship. And even Sulla, while abusing his dictatorial power in many ways and having arranged to not have a time limit on his dictatorship, still stepped down after a year. The first ''successful'' attempt to defy this tradition came without the actual ([[Just the First Citizen|specific]]) title of dictator, and resulted in the creation of [[The Roman Empire]].
Of course some [[Evil Overlord
When played more cynically it may overlap with [[Honor Before Reason]].
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** It was in fact accepted Roman practice to install a Dictator to oversee elections or conduct ceremonies that required a Consul when no Consul was available, with the expectation that he would resign the moment the job was done. Attempting to parlay that remit into any kind of lasting political power would have been a pretty efficient way to get yourself killed ''a la'' the Gracchi. Caesar's appointment to that station was well-precedented and, by the standards of the time, uncontroversial. (The office of dictator was the only one in the Roman constitution that could be held by a single man: usually the supreme power was held by ''two'' consuls, who could veto each other's decisions and generally did. In peacetime, this meant rule by consensus; in war, it generally meant your leaderless legions were about to be wiped out. Hence the need to have one supreme authority in times of crisis.)
*** Somewhat uncontroversial, as he was a candidate in the election in question (and not surprisingly, won).
* Scipio Africanus. While he never actually had absolute power, it is arguable that he could have - he was a four-star badass who actually defeated Hannibal, thus gaining more prestige then any Roman had ever had. Instead of attempting to take power, he retired to his villa to get away from the [[Obstructive Bureaucrat
* Another historical example is [[George Washington]], who was unanimously elected to two terms as U.S. president. When there was no law or even a custom about serving only that many, he declined to run for election again (in fact, he started the custom, which in spite of attempts at third terms by some presidents, wasn't actually broken until [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]). He could have served even longer, but is considered a modern Cincinnatus for not doing so. Cincinnati is partly named in his honor also. Washington pulled this off once prior when he resigned his commission in the army and went back to private life for ''years'' before becoming president. On hearing that Washington planned to invoke this trope, King George III said, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."
** Polk was before the two-term limit was imposed, but he didn't run for a second term, saying that there was no need as he'd already accomplished everything he wanted to in his first term. Rutherford B. Hayes also declined to run for a second term, keeping a promise he'd made shortly after being elected in highly suspicious circumstances (he won by ''one'' electoral vote, with three states' electoral vote allocations being heavily disputed, and had lost the popular vote). Calvin Coolidge also declined to run again in 1928 despite having served for just under six years as President (similarly to Johnson, except that Coolidge had no term limits). All other one-term presidents (besides the ones that died in their first term) ran for a second term and either lost the election or were passed over by their party.
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