Proscription

Proscription. from the Latin ‘Proscriptio’, meant the publication of the Names of the Enemies of the State, leading to their execution.

A List of Men considered to be Enemies of the State was drawn up in the Forum Romanum.
The Men whose names were on the List forfeited their Roman Citizenship and lost all their Rights under Roman Law.
They were then arrested and executed.
It was forbidden for the Estates of Proscribed men to be inherited, nor could their wives remarry.
Their sons and grandsons were excluded from being involved in Politics for 30 years.
Their Estates and Wealth was then appropriated by the State.

82 BCE. Mass Proscription was introduced by Sulla.
- When Sulla was made Dictator he published a List of Proscribed Men. These Men were then dispossessed and executed, and their Estates and Wealth seized to fill the Aerarium, the State Treasury.
- The young Julius Caesar himself was forced to flee Rome, but was later pardoned by Sulla.
- Estimates vary from 1,500 to 9,000 Senators and Equites killed.
- It was a harsh technique to eliminate political rivals and raise Revenue for the Aerarium.

43 BCE. The Proscriptions of the Second Triumvirate.
- Mark Anthony, Lepidus and Octavian Proscribed 2000 Equites and over 100 Senators, leading to mass executions, which included Cicero. Only a few with political connections managed to survive.
- The revenue received was used to raise new Legions to conduct the Civil War.

The Equestrian Order seems to have been targeted in these mass Proscriptions.
As a result, wealthy Romans employed Freedmen to run their businesses. This was because their Bank Ledgers were not accessible to the Roman Agents acting under Proscription.