[2]Under the terms of this law, those convicted of perduellio were subject to death either by being hanged from the arbor infelix (a tree deemed to be unfortunate) or by being thrown from the Tarpeian Rock.
[3] As the concept of national sovereignty took hold in Rome, perduellio also came to mean an offense which “injured or brought into danger the dignity, supremacy, and power of the commonwealth [Roman State]”.
[4] In the Ab Urbe Condita, Livy recorded the first instance of both a trial of perduellio and appeal: It enraged the fiery youth to hear his sister’s lamentations in the hour of his own victory and the nation’s great rejoicing.
And so, drawing his sword and at the same time angrily upbraiding her, he ran her through the body…The king…said: “In accordance with the law I appoint duumvirs to pass judgment upon Horatius for treason [perduellio].
By the third century BC, prosecutions were led by the plebeian tribunes before the assembly but by the late republic, this form of action had become obsolete due to the formation of the permanent court on treason.