Proscripciones

Proscripciones, or proscription, is the practice of declaring a person or group to be outside the protection of the law and subject to punishment, typically death or confiscation of property, often by public decree or list. The term comes from Latin proscriptio, from proscribere, to write publicly or to condemn.

In ancient Rome, proscriptions were used as a political instrument by magistrates or rulers to eliminate opponents and reward supporters. Officially proclaimed lists named individuals as enemies of the state; their property was forfeited, and they could be killed with impunity. Proscriptions were public and often accompanied by the seizure of assets and the exile of families, constituting a swift purge of political rivals.

Historically notable episodes include the proscriptions of Sulla (82–80 BCE), which deprived numerous Romans of life or liberty and redistributed their property, and the proscriptions during the aftermath of Julius Caesar's assassination, carried out by the Second Triumvirate (43–42 BCE). The lists resulted in the execution or flight of several prominent figures, including the orator Cicero.

In modern historiography, proscriptions are cited as extreme measures that bypass ordinary legal procedures and erode due process. The term has also entered political discourse as a general metaphor for the extrajudicial or collective exclusion of opponents by a government, though formal legal usage is rare in contemporary legal systems.

Etymologically, proscriptio is Latin, from proscriptus 'written publicly' or 'declared outlaw'.