He also managed to strip the power from wealthy senators in Rome to give the common people better representation; even if it was only in principal rather than installed/formalized in a new system of government. He was a misguided man by the time he was murdered, but still a popular man of the people for this reason. His disposition with the corrupt, self-serving senators legitimized his right to rule for the plebeians that were ignored by the senate for so long.

There were 85 dictators before him. I'm not kidding.

Not dictatorship per se, but (in a sense even as general doing his own thing) he did bring forward proper imperialism like we think of it today.

(Ups, sry! How tf did I end up in such an old thread, how far beneath Moria did I doomscroll??)

The Republic's government was failing for a long time. The generals in the republic simply had too much power. When rebels rose in the Sertorian War the senate couldn't do anything for years until Pompey finally ended it, had highlighting the power of the generals over the senate. This wasn't unknown in the republic. It's the reason why the first triumvirate was able to form. The republic had too little checks and balances.