Editing Proscription (section)

===Second Triumvirate===
The proscription of 43 BC was the second major proscription. It began with an agreement in November 43 between the [[Second Triumvirate|triumvirs]] [[Augustus|Octavian Caesar]], [[Mark Antony|Marcus Antonius]], and [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Marcus Lepidus]] after two long meetings. Their aim was to avenge [[Julius Caesar]]’s assassination, eliminate political enemies, and acquire their properties. The proscription was aimed at Julius Caesar’s conspirators, such as [[Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger|Brutus]] and [[Gaius Cassius Longinus|Cassius]], and other individuals who had taken part in the civil war, including wealthy people, senators, knights, and republicans such as [[Sextus Pompey]] and [[Cicero]]. There were 2,000 names on the list in total, and a handsome reward of 2,500 [[Ancient drachma|drachmae]] for bringing back the head of a free person on the list (a slave's head was worth 1,000 drachmae); the same rewards were given to anyone who gave information on where someone on the list was hiding. Anyone who tried to save people on the list was added to the list. The material belongings of the dead victims were to be confiscated. Some of the listed were stripped of their property but protected from death by their relatives in the Triumvirate (''e.g.'', [[Lucius Julius Caesar (consul 64 BC)|Lucius Julius Caesar]] and [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Lepidus]]' brother [[Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus|Paullus]]). Most were killed, in some cases gruesomely. [[Cicero]], his younger brother [[Quintus Tullius Cicero]] (one of [[Julius Caesar]]'s [[legatus|legates]]) and [[Marcus Favonius]] were all killed in the proscription.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/47*.html|title=Roman History, Books 46-50 (Loeb Classical Library, Vol. V)|last=Dio|first=Cassius|publisher=Harvard University Press|others=[Earnest Cary, Trans.]|year=1917|isbn=9780674990913|location=Cambridge, MA|section=XLVII|access-date=18 April 2015}}</ref> Cicero's head and hands were famously cut off and fastened to the [[Rostra]].

Contemporary Roman historians provide conflicting reports as to which triumvir was most responsible for the proscriptions and killing.  They agree that enacting the proscriptions was a means by all three factions to eliminate political enemies.{{Sfn|Scott|1933|pages=19–20}} [[Marcus Velleius Paterculus]] asserted that Octavian tried to avoid proscribing officials whereas Lepidus and Antony were to blame for initiating them. [[Cassius Dio]] defended Octavian as trying to spare as many as possible, whereas Antony and Lepidus, being older and involved in politics longer, had many more enemies to deal with.{{Sfn|Scott|1933|page=19}}

This claim was rejected by [[Appian]], who maintained that Octavian shared an equal interest with Lepidus and Antony in eradicating his enemies.{{Sfn|Scott|1933|page=20}} Suetonius said that Octavian was at first reluctant to proscribe officials, but eventually pursued his enemies with more vigor than the other triumvirs.{{Sfn|Scott|1933|pages=19–20}} [[Plutarch]] described the proscriptions as a ruthless and cutthroat swapping of friends and family among Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian. For example, Octavian allowed the proscription of his ally Cicero, Antony the proscription of his maternal uncle Lucius Julius Caesar, and Lepidus his brother, although only Cicero would ultimately be killed as a result of these concessions.{{Sfn|Scott|1933|page=19}}