Aes equestre

The aes equestre, which amounted to 10,000 asses, was a sum of money to be given to the Equus publicus for his horse out of the public treasury (ex publico) of Rome. Some say the equites had a right to distrain for this money likewise, it seems impossible that this account can be correct; for we can hardly conceive that a private person had a right of distress against a magistrate, that is, against the state, or that he could distrain any of the public property of the state. It is more probable that this money was also paid by the single women and orphans, and that it was against these that the equites had the same right to distrain, as they had in the case of the aes hordearium.