Proscription

Origin

Proscriptions (Latin proscriptio, plural proscriptiones) initially meant public advertisements or notices signifying property or goods for sale.

During the dictatorial reign of Sulla, the word took on a more sinister meaning. In 82 or 81 BC, Sulla instituted the process of proscription in order to avenge the massacres of Gaius Marius and Gaius Marius’ son. He instituted a notice for the sale of confiscated property belonging to those declared public enemies of the state (modern historians estimate about 520 people were proscribed as opposed to the ancient estimate of 4,700 people) and therefore condemned to death those proscribed, called proscripti in Latin.

Proscription and treason

There were multiple reasons why the ancient Roman government may have desired to proscribe or attribute multiple other forms of pain. One of the most prevalent reasons for punishment are treason crimes, also known as lex maiestatis. Treason crimes consisted of a very broad and large number of regulations, and such crimes had a negative effect on the government. This list includes, but is not limited to: assisting an enemy in any way, Crimen Laesae Majestasis, acts of subversion and usurpation, offense against the peace of the state, offenses against the administration of justice, and violating absolute duties. Overall, crimes in which the state, emperor, the state’s tranquility, or offenses against the good of the people would be considered treason, and, therefore, would constitute proscription. Some of these regulations are understandable and comparable to safety laws within the United States today; however, others, like violating absolute duties, could very easily be accidents or circumstantial crises that would deserve punishment regardless.

Punishments for treason were quite harsh for today’s standards and were meant to highlight the seriousness and shamefulness of the treason crimes committed. There were a variety of punishments for capital crimes, including death, loss of a freedman’s status, loss of citizenship with a loss of family rights, and a loss of family rights only. Death was a very common punishment and was referred to as summum supplicium, or the "extreme penalty". The death sentence was often the punishment for all but the mildest forms of treason. Julius Caesar was an influential framer on the law on treason. The Interdiction from Water and Fire was a civil excommunication resulting in ultimate exile, which included forfeiture of citizenship and forfeiture of property. Those who were condemned would be deported to an island. Emperor Augustus frequently utilized this method of exile, as he desired to keep banished men from banding together in large groups. Such punishment was only given for the mildest forms of treason, in comparison to the death penalty served for most other treason crimes. Augustus also created the prefect, whose powers included the ability to banish, deport, or send to the mines. The prefect also heard appeals.

Proscription of Sulla in 82 BC

An early instance of mass proscription took place in 82 BC, when Lucius Cornelius Sulla was appointed dictator rei publicae constituendae ("Dictator for the Reconstitution of the Republic"). Sulla proceeded to have the Senate draw up a list of those he considered enemies of the state and published the list in the Roman Forum. Any man whose name appeared on the list was ipso facto stripped of his citizenship and excluded from all protection under law; reward money was given to any informer who gave information leading to the death of a proscribed man, and any person who killed a proscribed man was entitled to keep part of his estate (the remainder went to the state). No person could inherit money or property from proscribed men, nor could any woman married to a proscribed man remarry after his death. Many victims of proscription were decapitated and their heads were displayed on spears in the Forum.

Sulla used proscription to restore the depleted Roman Treasury (Aerarium), which had been drained by costly civil and foreign wars in the preceding decade, and to eliminate enemies (both real and potential) of his reformed state and constitutions; the plutocratic knights of the Ordo Equester were particularly hard-hit. Giving the procedure a particularly sinister character in the public eye was the fact that many of the proscribed men, escorted from their homes at night by groups of men all named "Lucius Cornelius", never appeared again. (These men were all Sulla's freedmen.) This gave rise to a general fear of being taken from one's home at night as a consequence of any outwardly seditious behaviour.

Sulla's proscription was bureaucratically overseen, and the names of informers and those who profited from killing proscribed men were entered into the public record. Because Roman law could criminalise acts ex post facto, many informers and profiteers were later prosecuted.

The proscription of 82 BC was overseen by Sulla's freedman steward Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus, and was rife with corruption.

The proscription lists created by Sulla led to mass terror in Rome. During this time, "the cities of Italy became theaters of execution." Citizens were terrified to find their names on the lists. If they did find their names on the list, they were ultimately sentenced to death. The executions were brutal and led to beheadings. Often, these heads were then put on display for the city to see. The bodies of the condemned were often mutilated and dragged before being thrown into the Tiber River. Additionally, those who were condemned lost rights even after their brutal death. Those killed were denied the right to a funeral, and all of their possessions were auctioned off, often to the ones who killed them. Negative consequences arose for anyone that chose to assist those on the list, despite not being listed on the proscribed lists themselves. Anyone who was found guilty of assisting the condemned was capitally punished.

Families were also punished as a result of being related to one of the proscribed. It was forbidden to mourn the death of a proscribed person. According to Plutarch, the greatest injustice of all the consequences was stripping the rights of their children and grandchildren. While those proscribed and their loved ones faced harsh consequences, the people who assisted the government by killing any person on the proscription list were actually rewarded.

Proscription of 43 BC

The proscription of 43 BC was the second major proscription. It began with an agreement in November 43 between the triumvirs Octavian Caesar, Marcus Antonius, and Marcus Lepidus after two long meetings. Their aim was to avenge Julius Caesar’s assassination, eliminate political enemies, and acquire their properties. The proscription was aimed at Julius Caesar’s conspirators, such as Brutus and Cassius, and other individuals who had taken part in the civil war, including wealthy people, senators, knights, and republicans such as Sextus Pompey and Cicero. There were 2,000 names on the list in total, and a handsome reward of 2,500 drachmae for bringing back the head of a free person on the list (a slave's head was worth 1,000 drachmae); the same rewards were given to anyone who gave information on where someone on the list was hiding. Anyone who tried to save people on the list was included on the list. The material belongings of the dead victims were to be confiscated. Some of the listed were stripped of their property but protected from death by their relatives in the Triumvirate (e.g., Lucius Julius Caesar and Lepidus' brother). Most, however, were killed, in some cases gruesomely. Cicero, his younger brother Quintus Tullius Cicero (one of Julius Caesar's legates) and Marcus Favonius were all killed in the proscription. Cicero's head and hands were famously cut off and fastened to the Rostra.