name which long survived in official phraseology, but which was superseded
by the name _Romani_, derived from that of the city itself. The whole body
of those who were eligible to render military service, to participate in
the public religious rites and to attend the meetings of the popular
assembly, with their families, constituted the Roman state--the _populus
Romanus_.

*Patricians and Plebeians.* At the close of the regal period the _populus
Romanus_ comprised two distinct social and political classes. These were
the Patricians and the Plebeians. A very considerable element of the
latter class was formed by the Clients. These class distinctions had grown
up gradually under the economic and social influences of the early state;
and, in antiquity, were not confined to Rome but appeared in many of the
Greek communities also at a similar stage of their development.

The Patricians were the aristocracy. Their influence rested upon their
wealth as great landholders, their superiority in military equipment and
training, their clan organization, and the support of their clients. Their
position in the community assured to them political control, and they had
early monopolized the right to sit in the Senate. The members of the
Senate were called collectively _patres_, whence the name _patricii_
(patricians) was given to all the members of their class. The patricians
formed a group of many _gentes_, or clans, each an association of
households (_familiae_) who claimed descent from a common ancestor. Each
member of a _gens_ bore the gentile name and had a right to participate in
its religious practices (_sacra_).

*Patrons and clients.* Apparently, the clients were tenants who tilled the
estates of the patricians, to whom they stood for a long time in a
condition of economic and political dependence. Each head of a patrician
household was the patron of the clients who resided on his lands. The
clients were obliged to follow their patrons to war and to the political
arena, to render them respectful attention, and, on occasion, pecuniary
support. The patron, in his turn, was obliged to protect the life and
interests of his client. For either patron or client to fail in his
obligations was held to be sacrilege. This relationship, called
_patronatus_ on the side of the patron, _clientela_ on that of the client,
was hereditary on both sides. The origin of this form of clientage is
uncertain and it is impossible for us to form a very