Thus far we have discussed cases where different subdivisions are numerically equal. Numbers can also be used, however, to characterize a group, more particularly, a leading group of persons, within a larger totality. Thus, guild masters were often designated by their number: in Frankfort, the wool weavers' heads were called the "Six," and the bakers' the "Eight"; in medieval Barcelona, the senate was known as the "Hundred"; etc.

Georg Simmel, The Sociology of Georg Simm…, loc. 3393