Hence, during this later period, the number of Senators was greatly in excess of three hundred.

The Senators, when addressed, were called PATRES, or "Fathers," for they were Fathers of the families.
The Romans, as we saw above, were divided at first into three tribes, _Ramnes_, _Tities_, and _Luceres_ Each tribe was subdivided into ten districts called CURIAE, and each curia into ten clans called GENTES (3 tribes, 30 curiae, and 300 gentes).

Every Roman citizen, therefore, belonged to a particular family, at the head of which was a _pater-familias_; every family belonged to a particular _gens_, named after a common ancestor; every gens belonged to a particular _curia_; and every curia to a particular _tribe_.
We have learned that in the early government of Rome there was a king, and a senate that advised the king.

Besides this, there was an assembly composed of all Roman citizens who could bear arms.

(Footnote: We must remember that at this time no one was a Roman citizen who did not belong to some family.