Note 1925 — Chapter X · THE PRINCIPATE (continued 2)

The usurpation of the gold ring by freedmen, which was repressed by Claudius (Suet. Claud. 25) and Domitian, and the inspection in the theatre instituted by the latter (Martial v. 8) seem to refer to a civil class; at least there is no evidence that such people claimed to be equites equo publico. When Dio Cassius (lvi. 42) speaks of οἵ τε ἱππεῖς, οἵ τε ἐκ τοῦ τέλους καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι, it is not clear who “the others” are, but the passage shows that persons other than those in the corps were called “equites.”