The history of Man is marked by recurrent autocratic rule. In fact, autocracy in its various guises is perhaps the most prevalent form of political authority in history. Latin America has suffered autocratic rule as has the rest of the world; but while the genus is autocrat, the species, caudillo, is almost unique to nineteenth-century Latin America (more specifically, Spanish America). To understand the distinctive qualities of the caudillo, as opposed to any other kind of autocrat, one must examine the historical matrix of nineteenth-century Latin America and the cluster of cultural values that at once limited and provided opportunities to persons in the society. The question becomes one of interaction between the temporal and cultural circumstances, and the variable of choice of action by men.