- What are roman numerals?
- history of roman numerals
- Roman numeral symbols
- Rules of the roman numeral system
- Current uses of Roman numerals
- roman numeral table
We explain what Roman numerals are, their history and what their symbols and rules are. Also, how are they currently used?
What are roman numerals?
Roman numerals or Roman numerals are the set of written symbols developed in Ancient Rome to represent quantities. These symbols were part of a numbering system employed in the entire Roman empire, who borrowed some lyrics from his own alphabet, that is, it did not use specific symbols for numbers, as was the case in the systems of other cultures.
The symbols of the Roman system consisted of capital letters endowed with a fixed numerical value, which when appearing in the figure were added or subtracted, depending on their position, to create higher figures. This means that they were part of an additive and subtractive number system, rather than a positional one (as is the case with the decimal system).
history of roman numerals
Roman numerals were born as an update of the Etruscan numeral system, taken in turn from the system of the ancient Greeks. The ancient Romans took from their alphabet the letters that most resembled the Etruscan symbols and created their own pattern. These letters are uppercase because initially the Latin alphabet did not contain lowercase letters of any kind.
The Roman system was, in its beginnings, only additive, like the Etruscan, so that the symbols were piling up to create the chosen figure (4, for example, corresponded to four units: IIII), until reaching a figure that was sufficiently raised to change sign (5 units: IIII, becomes V).But around the third century a. C. the system was perfected to also allow subtraction, which gave rise to a more synthetic and pragmatic model (in which 4 is represented as IV, that is, five units minus one).
Roman numerals survived the fall of the empire and the transformation of European culture, and continued to be used for centuries, until eventually being displaced by Arabic numerals, due to the influence of the Arab empires during the medieval. Currently they are reserved for very specific uses, such as the title of chapters and the numbering of some clocks, among others.
Roman numeral symbols
Roman numeral symbols are limited, seven only, and each with a fixed value set, as shown below:
| Symbol | Name | Numerical value |
| Yo | VNVS (unus) | 1 |
| v | QVINQVE (oil lamp) | 5 |
| X | DECEM (decem) | 10 |
| L | QVINQVAGINTA (fifteenth) | 50 |
| C | CENTVM (centuries) | 100 |
| D | QVINGENTI (fifty) | 500 |
| M | MILLE (mile) | 1000 |
Rules of the roman numeral system
The Roman numeral system consists, in the first instance, in the accumulation of symbols with a fixed value, arranged from highest to lowest in a linear direction from left to right. In other words, the figures must always start with the highest signs.
The figures, therefore, are composed by adding the signs that appear to the right. Thus, for example, if we see two or more unit signs, we must add them: I + I = II (1 + 1 = 2), and the number therefore grows to the right as it increases: III is I + I + I.
However, once a certain amount is reached, we must turn to signs of greater value (such as V) to which we can, however, continue adding units, as long as they appear on the right side of the number: V + I = VI (5 + 1 = 6), for example. The same rule applies to adding higher signs: X + V = XV (10 + 5 = 10).
Thus, any figure in Roman numerals is the product of the sum of the signs that represent it. 1382, for example, is represented as follows: MCCCLXXXII, equivalent to 1000 + (100 + 100 + 100) + (50 + 10 + 10 + 10) + 1 + 1, that is, 1000 + 300 + 80 + 2 However, in no case can the same number be repeated more than three times in a row, that is, IIII (for 4) or XXXX (for 40) cannot be written; In these cases, subtraction must be used.
When we find a number of greater value than another, but located to the right of it, we must subtract the smaller number from the larger one: IV = V – I (4 = 5 – 1), for example, since V is greater than I This applies to any number: IX = X – I (9 = 10 – 1), XL = L – X (40 = 50 – 10), CD = D – C (400 = 500 – 100). This is the way to compose Roman numerals for which it would be necessary to repeat the same sign more than three times.
Current uses of Roman numerals
Currently, Roman numerals have a very limited and specific use. They are used many times to number the chapters of books, to mark the hours of some clocks and in written language to indicate the numbering of the centuries (11th century, 20th century), the numbering of kings and nobles (Juan Carlos I , Henry VII).
They are also used in the numbering of military divisions (IV Platoon of the Army, II Battalion of Lancers) and the editions of certain important events (II Biennial of Literature Mariano Picón Salas, III European Congress of Astrophysics, XX anniversary of the return of democracy) .
It is also common to find them in documents from ancient times and as part of national symbols, monuments and other solemn objects and places, such as the naves of a Christian church, or the stages of the Via Crucis of Jesus of Nazareth.
roman numeral table
The following is a table with Roman numerals from 1 to 1000:
| decimal numbering | roman numeral |
| 1 | Yo |
| 2 | II |
| 3 | III |
| 4 | IV |
| 5 | v |
| 6 | SAW |
| 7 | 7th |
| 8 | viii |
| 9 | IX |
| 10 | X |
| 11 | eleventh |
| 12 | XII |
| 13 | XIII |
| 14 | fourteenth |
| 15 | fifteenth |
| 16 | XVI |
| 17 | seventeenth |
| 18 | eighteenth |
| 19 | 19th |
| 20 | XX |
| 21 | 21st |
| 22 | XXII |
| 23 | XXIII |
| 24 | XXIV |
| 25 | XXV |
| 26 | XXVI |
| 27 | XXVII |
| 28 | XXVIII |
| 29 | XXIX |
| 30 | XXX |
| 31 | XXXI |
| 32 | XXXII |
| 33 | XXXIII |
| 34 | XXXIV |
| 35 | XXXV |
| 36 | XXXVI |
| 37 | XXXVII |
| 38 | XXXVIII |
| 39 | XXXIX |
| 40 | XL |
| 41 | XLI |
| 42 | XLII |
| 43 | XLII |
| 44 | XLIV |
| 45 | XLV |
| 46 | XLVI |
| 47 | XLVII |
| 48 | XLVIII |
| 49 | XLIX |
| 50 | L |
| 51 | LI |
| 52 | LII |
| 53 | LIII |
| 54 | LIV |
| 55 | MF |
| 56 | LVI |
| 57 | LVII |
| 58 | LVIII |
| 59 | LIX |
| 60 | LX |
| 61 | LXI |
| 62 | LXII |
| 63 | LXIII |
| 64 | LXIV |
| 65 | LXV |
| 66 | LXVI |
| 67 | LXVII |
| 68 | LXVIII |
| 69 | LXIX |
| 70 | LXX |
| 71 | LXXI |
| 72 | LXXII |
| 73 | LXXIII |
| 74 | LXXIV |
| 75 | LXXV |
| 76 | LXXVI |
| 77 | LXXVII |
| 78 | LXXVIII |
| 79 | LXXIX |
| 80 | LXXX |
| 81 | LXXXI |
| 82 | LXXXII |
| 83 | LXXXIII |
| 84 | LXXXIV |
| 85 | LXXXV |
| 86 | LXXXVI |
| 87 | LXXXVII |
| 88 | LXXXVIII |
| 89 | LXXXIX |
| 90 | XC |
| 91 | XCI |
| 92 | XCII |
| 93 | XCIII |
| 94 | XCIV |
| 95 | XCV |
| 96 | XCVI |
| 97 | XCVII |
| 98 | XCVIII |
| 99 | XCIX |
| 100 | C |
| 101 | IQ |
| 102 | IIC |
| 103 | III |
| 104 | CIV |
| 105 | CV |
| 106 | CVI |
| 107 | CVII |
| 108 | CVIII |
| 109 | CVIX |
| 110 | CX |
| 111 | CXI |
| 112 | CXII |
| 113 | CXIII |
| 114 | CXIV |
| 115 | CXV |
| 116 | CXVI |
| 117 | CXVII |
| 118 | CXVIII |
| 119 | CIX |
| 120 | CXX |
| 130 | CXXX |
| 140 | CXL |
| 150 | CL |
| 160 | CLX |
| 170 | CLXX |
| 180 | CLXXX |
| 190 | CXC |
| 200 | DC |
| 250 | CCL |
| 300 | CCC |
| 350 | CCCL |
| 400 | CD |
| 450 | CDL |
| 500 | D |
| 550 | DL |
| 600 | DC |
| 700 | DCC |
| 800 | DCCC |
| 900 | CM |
| 1000 | M |
Continue with: Algebra