proscriptions

At Rome, a proscriptio was a published list of Roman citizens who were declared to be outlaws and whose property was confiscated and auctioned by the state. Those proscribed could be killed by soldiers with impunity; rewards and punishments were used to encourage their friends and families to betray them. This procedure was employed by Sulla in 82–81 BC (more than 4000 people were said to have been named) and by the triumvirs Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian during the civil war in 43–42 BC; it was a means both of getting rid of enemies and of acquiring funds.