The proscription of Sulla was a reprisal campaign by the Roman proconsul and later dictator, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, to eliminate his enemies in the aftermath of his victory in the civil war of 83–82 BC.
Following his victory at the battle of the Colline Gate, Sulla wanted to take his revenge against the former supporters of Marius and Cinna, who had declared him a public enemy in 88 BC. After having obtained a positive vote from a popular assembly, he published two lists with the names of his enemies among senators and equites, the two tiers of the Roman aristocracy. The lists contained 520 names, of which 75 are known. Those on the lists had their lives and property forfeit; rewards were given to those who assassinated the victims. Several henchmen, as well prominent politicians who supported Sulla, massively profited from the proscription, collecting bounties and receiving seized properties at concessionary prices.
The proscription was just one element of the repression organised by Sulla against his enemies. Sulla concurrently ordered many show trials, summary executions, confiscations of property, and even the massacre of the Samnites, but they were not part of the proscription, which only targeted the Roman elite.
The sons of proscribed men were also targeted; they lost their civic rights and were forced into exile. Several attempts were made to rehabilitate the proscribed and their descendants, especially by Julius Caesar, but were mostly unsuccessful. Their full rehabilitation only took place in 49 BC, after Caesar took control of Rome during his civil war.
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