Main Entry: pro·scribe
Pronunciation: prO-'skrIb
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: pro·scribed; pro·scrib·ing
Etymology: Latin proscribere to publish, proscribe, from pro- before + scribere to write
: to condemn or forbid as harmful or unlawful
Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Before there was Nero, before there was Caligula, and before there was Gaius Julius Caesar and the fall of the Republic, there was Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix.
Sulla was a general turned to Dictator of Rome. He had a great career in early life as one of Garius Marius' generals against Jugartha of Numidia, in Africa. And during the Italian war, he showed his military brilliance and outshone both Marius and the consul Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (the father of Pompey). He became consul of Rome, but had his position undermined by the feeble Marius who wanted to command the war against Mithrades VI of Pontus (in modern day Turkey). He fled Rome after failing to plead with Marius.
He marched his six loyal Italian War veteran legions against Rome. Sulla consolidated his position, ordered death for Marius and a few of his allies and addressed the Senate in harsh tones, portraying himself as a victim, presumably to justify his violent entrance into the city. After some major restructuring of the city's political trends and with the Senate's power strengthened, Sulla returned to his camp and proceeded with the original plan of fighting Mithridates in Pontus.
But Marius was not dead, he had fled to safety in Tunesia. With Sulla out of Rome, Marius began to recover control of the situation. By the end of 87 BC Marius returned to Rome with the support of Lucius Cornelius Cinna (Julius Caesar's father in law). Now back in power, Marius declared Sulla's reforms and laws invalid and Sulla officially exiled. Marius ordered the deaths of many supporters of Sulla, in revenge for the small group of men Sulla had killed.
Determined to regain control of Rome, Sulla marched back to Italy. In 81 BC Sulla marched into Rome - for the second time - at the head of an army and was almost immediately appointed dictator by the Senate, with no limit on time in office.
In total control of the city and its affairs, Sulla instituted a reign of terror, the likes of which had never been seen in Rome before. Proscribing or outlawing every one of his political opponents, Sulla ordered some 1,500 Roman nobles (Senator and Equites) executed. The blood bath went on for months. Romans were executed for any reason or none at all. Helping or sheltering a person who was proscribed was also punishable by death. The state confiscated the wealth of the outlawed, making Sulla (and his supporters) vastly rich. The women and children of the outlawed who weren't killed outright were sold into slavery.
Source: Wikipedia
1970's. Marcos government and Dictatorship.
In 1971, Marcos called for a Constitutional Convention for the purpose of revising the 1935 Constitution. The Convention was composed of 321 elected delegates headed by former Presidents Carlos P. Garcia and Diosdado Macapagal. However, the Convention's image was tarnished by scandals which included the bribing of some delegates to "vote" against a proposal to prohibit Marcos from staying in power under a new constitution.
Marcos' second term was marked by increasing civil strife known as the "First Quarter Storm." After a series of bombings in Manila claimed to have been carried out by the New People's Army of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Marcos warned of imminent Communist takeover. On September 21, 1972, by virtue of Proclamation No. 1081, he declared martial law over the entire country, thereby remaining in office past limits imposed by the 1935 Constitution as amended. By 1973, he had assumed dictatorial control—ushering in a so-called constitutional authoritarianism. Defending his right to rule by decree, if he chose, he asserted that otherwise "you will have Communists going back and forth, causing the dastardly ruin of our country, the killing of people and the rape of women."
Source: Wikipedia
February, 2006. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government.
THE DEPARTMENT of Justice yesterday released the following list of leftist militants accused by the police of rebellion for allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government.
Source: Inq7.net
Familiar? I honestly think that with all the current political turmoil, history will repeat itself.
During Sulla's dictatorship, he published a list of his enemies and had paid people for any information, arrest, or execution of his "outlaws". Today, Arroyo has published a list of her enemies for arrest and prosecution.
Are we better of today compared to the ancient Romans?
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