Aes hordearium

The aes hordearium, which amounted to 2000 asses, was the sum of money an Equus publicus received yearly from the state for his military horse's upkeep, it had to be paid by single viduae (single women, which included both maidens and widows) and orbi (orphans), provided they possessed a certain amount of property, on the principle, as Barthold Georg Niebuhr remarks, "that in a military state, the women and children ought to contribute for those who fight in behalf of them and the commonwealth; it being borne in mind, that they were not included in the census." The equites had a right to distrain (pignoris capio) if the aes hordearium was not paid.