I can't for the life of me remember, and I can't find it via the search function.
iirc, it gets mentioned here quite often. Basically the state withdraws its protection from the criminal, who is essentially a fugitive/exile that others can murder without consequences.
Would appreciate any thoughts!
Oh, I just remembered. It's a Roman outlaw, if anyone else was curious (from Wikipedia):
Among other forms of exile, Roman law included the penalty of interdicere aquae et ignis ("to forbid fire and water"). People so penalized were required to leave Roman territory and forfeit their property. If they returned, they were effectively outlaws; providing them the use of fire or water was illegal, and they could be killed at will without legal penalty.[2]
Interdicere aquae et ignis was traditionally imposed by the tribune of the plebs, and is attested to have been in use during the First Punic War of the third century BCE by Cato the Elder.[3] It was later also applied by many other officials, such as the Senate, magistrates,[2] and Julius Caesar as a general and provincial governor during the Gallic Wars.[4] It fell out of use during the early Empire.[2]