was issued in the earlier period of the Roman Republic against a fugitive Roman citizen accused of a capital crime, ruled by the magistrate in charge on the resolution of a public meeting (Liv. 25,4,9). With the acqua et igni interdictio (AII) the person concerned was denied all the essentials of life and life on Roman soil was made impossible for him.
With the introduction of permanent courts of assizes (towards the end of the 2nd cent. BC, reinforced by Sulla) AII itself became the punishment for capital crime. It meant being outcast from …