PROSCRIPTION

Latin Proscriptio, plural Proscriptiones, in ancient Rome, a posted notice listing Roman citizens who had been declared outlaws and whose goods were confiscated. Rewards were offered to anyone killing or betraying the proscribed, and severe penalties were inflicted on anyone harbouring them. Their properties were confiscated, and their sons and grandsons were forever barred from public office and from the Senate. The process was first used by the dictator Sulla in 82 BC, when some 4,700 of his alleged enemies (including those of the house of Marius) were proscribed and their lands turned over to Sulla's veterans. Children and grandchildren of these proscribed were restored to their rights in 49 by Julius Caesar, who tactfully avoided the proscription process that Romans had come to view as a horror. The next extensive use of proscription occurred during the Triumvirate of Mark Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus (43 BC), who used it to rid themselves of their opponents (some 300 senators and 2,000 equites, including Cicero) and to acquire lands for their legions and funds for themselves. Some of the proscribed escaped capture, however, and a few were later restored to their privileges.