Among the dead were eighty senators . The Roman Senate was comprised of no more than 300 men - this was 25 % -- 30 % of the governing body . Among the dead were the Roman Consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus , as well as two consuls for the preceding year , two quaestors , twenty-nine out of the forty-eight military tribunes and an additional eighty senators ( at a time when the Roman Senate comprised no more than 300 men , this constituted 25 % â `` 30 % of the governing body ) .