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Roman numerals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roman numerals are a numeral system originating in

ancient Rome, adapted from Etruscan numerals. The
system used in classical antiquity was slightly modified
in the Middle Ages to produce the system we use today.
It is based on certain letters which are given values as
numerals.
Roman numerals are commonly used today in numbered
lists (in outline format), clockfaces, pages preceding the
main body of a book, chord triads in music analysis, the
numbering of movie publication dates, successive
political leaders or children with identical names, and the
numbering of some sport events, such as the Olympic
Games or the Super Bowl.
For arithmetics involving Roman numerals, see Roman
arithmetic and Roman abacus.

Contents

1 Symbols
2 Origins
3 Zero
4 Fractions
5 IIII or IV?

5.1 Calendars and clocks

5.2 Chemistry
6 XCIX or IC
7 Year in Roman numerals
8 Other modern usage
9 Modern non-English speaking usage
10 Alternate forms
11 Table of Roman numerals

11.1 In Unicode
12 Games
13 Mnemonic devices
14 References
15 See also
16 External links

Numeral systems by culture

Hindu-Arabic numerals
Western Arabic
Indian family
Eastern Arabic
Brahmi
Khmer
Thai
East Asian numerals
Chinese
Korean
Chinese counting rods
Japanese
Alphabetic numerals
Abjad
Hebrew
Armenian
Ionian/Greek
Sanskrit
Cyrillic
Ge'ez
Other systems
Attic
Babylonian
Egyptian
Etruscan
Urnfield
Mayan
Roman
List of numeral system topics

Positional systems by base

Decimal (10)
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64
3, 9, 12, 24, 30, 36, 60, more

Symbols
There are seven basic Roman numerals.

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Symbol

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Value

1 (one) (unus)

5 (five) (quinque)

10 (ten) (decem)

50 (fifty) (quinquaginta)

100 (one hundred) (centum)

500 (five hundred) (quingenti)

1000 (one thousand) (mille)

Multiple symbols may be combined to produce numbers in between these values, subject to certain rules
on repetition. In cases where it may be shorter, it is sometimes allowable to place a smaller, subtractive,
symbol before a larger value, so that, for example, one may write IV or iv for four, rather than iiii.
Again, for the numbers not assigned a specific symbol, the above given symbols are combined:

II or ii for two
III or iii for three. The final character is sometimes "j" instead of "i", often in medical
prescriptions.
IV, iv, IIII, or iiii for four
VI or vi for six
VII or vii for seven
VIII or viii for eight
IX or ix for nine
XXXII or xxxii for thirty two

For large numbers (five thousand and above), a bar is placed above a base numeral to indicate
multiplication by 1000:

V for five thousand

X for ten thousand
L for fifty thousand
C for one hundred thousand
D for five hundred thousand
M for one million

For very large numbers (five million and above), there is no standard format, although sometimes a
double bar or underline is used to indicate multiplication by 1,000,000. That means an underlined X (X)
is ten million.

Origins
Although the Roman numerals are now written with letters of the Roman alphabet, they were originally
separate symbols. The Etruscans, for example, used I X 8 for I V X L C M.
They appear to derive from notches on tally sticks, such as those used by Italian and Dalmatian
shepherds into the 19th century. Thus, the I descends from a notch scored across the stick. Every fifth

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notch was double cut (, , , , etc.), and every tenth was cross cut (X), much like European tally marks
today. This produced a positional system: Eight on a counting stick was eight tallies, IIIIIII, but this
could be abbreviated III (or VIII), as the existence of a implies four prior notches. Likewise, number
four on the stick was the I-notch that could be felt just before the cut of the V, so it could be written as
either IIII or IV. Thus the system was neither additive nor subtractive in its conception, but ordinal.
When the tallies were later transferred to writing, the marks were easily identified with the existing
Roman letters I, V, X.
(A folk etymology has it that the V represented a hand, and that the X was made by placing two Vs on
top of each other, one inverted.)
The tenth V or X along the stick received an extra stroke. Thus 50 was written variously as N, , K, ,
, etc., but perhaps most often as a chicken-track shape like a superimposed V and I - . This had
flattened to (an inverted T) by the time of Augustus, and soon thereafter became identified with the
graphically similar letter L. Likewise, 100 was variously , , , H, or as any of the symbols for 50
above plus an extra stroke. The form (that is, a superimposed X and I) came to predominate, was
written variously as >I< or IC, was then shortened to or C, with C finally winning out because, as a
letter, it stood for centum (Latin for 'hundred').
The hundredth V or X was marked with a box or circle. Thus 500 was like a superposed on a or
(that is, like a with a cross bar), becoming a struck-through D or a by the time of Augustus, under
the graphic influence of the letter D. It was later identified as the letter D, perhaps as an abbreviation of
the phrase demi-mille 'half-thousand'. Meanwhile, 1000 was a circled X: , , , and by Augustinian
times was partially identified with the Greek letter . It then evolved along several independent routes.
Some variants, such as and CD (more accurately a reversed D adjacent to a regular D), were historical
dead ends (although one folk etymology later identified D for 500 as half of for 1000 because of this
CD variant), while two variants of survive to this day. One, CI, led to the convention of using
parentheses to indicate multiplication by 1000 (later extended to double parentheses as in , , etc.);
in the other, became and , eventually changing to M under the influence of the word mille
('thousand').

Zero
In general, the number zero did not have its own Roman numeral, but a primitive form (nulla) was
known by medieval computists (responsible for calculating the date of Easter). They included zero (via
the Latin word nulla meaning none) as one of nineteen epacts, or the age of the moon on March 22. The
first three epacts were nullae, xi, and xxii (written in minuscule or lower case). The first known
computist to use zero was Dionysius Exiguus in 525. Only one instance of a Roman numeral for zero is
known. About 725, Bede or one of his colleagues used the letter N, the initial of nullae, in a table of
epacts, all written in Roman numerals.
A notation for the value zero is quite distinct from the role of the digit zero in a positional notation
system. The lack of a zero digit prevented Roman numerals from developing into a positional notation,
and led to their gradual replacement by Hindu-Arabic numerals in the early second millennium. On the
other hand, the lack of positional notation may have prevented the Romans from developing a "zero".
Which affected which is not certain.

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Fractions
Even though the Romans used a
decimal system for whole numbers,
reflecting Latin, they used a
duodecimal system for fractions,
because the divisibility of twelve (12 =
A triens coin (1/3 or 4/12
34) makes it easier to handle the
A semis coin (1/2 or 6/12 of an
of an as). Note the four
common fractions of 1/3 and 1/4 than
as). Note the S indicating its
dots indicating its
in
a
system
based
on
ten
(10
=
25).
value.
value.
On coins, many of which had values
that were duodecimal fractions of the
unit as, they used a notational system similar to that of whole numbers, but based on twelfths and one
halves rather than units and fives. A dot indicated an uncia (one twelfth, the source of the English
words inch and ounce), and dots were added together up to five twelfths. Then one half (six twelfths)
was notated using the letter S for semis ("half"). Dots were added to S for the fractions from seven to
eleven twelfths, just as tallies were added to V for whole numbers from six to nine. Each of these
fractions had its own name, which was also the name used for the corresponding coin:
Fraction Roman Numeral
1/12

Name
uncia, unciae

2/12 = 1/6

sextans, sextantis

3/12 = 1/4

quadrans, quadrantis

4/12 = 1/3

triens, trientis

5/12

quincunx, quincuncis

6/12 = 1/2 S

semis, semissis

7/12

septunx, septuncis

8/12 = 2/3 S

bes, bessis

9/12 = 3/4 S

dodrans, dodrantis
or nonuncium, nonuncii

10/12 = 5/6 S

dextans, dextantis or decunx, decuncis

11/12

deunx, deuncis

12/12 = 1

as, assis

The names mean "ounce", "sixth", "quarter", "third", "five-ounce" (quinquae unciae > quincunx), "half",
"seven-ounce" (septem unciae > septunx), "twice" (twice a third), "less a quarter" (de-quadrans >
dodrans) or "ninth uncia" (nona uncia > nonuncium), "less a sixth" (de-sextans > dextans) or "ten
uncias" (decem unciae > decunx), "less an ounce" (de-uncia > deunx), and "unit". The arrangement of
the dots was variable and not necessarily linear. Five dots arranged like :: (as on dice faces ) are
known as a quincunx from the name of the Roman fraction/coin. The Latin words sextans and quadrans
are the source of the English words sextant and quadrant.
Other Roman fractions include:

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1/8 sescuncia, sescunciae (from sesqui- + uncia, i.e. 1 12 uncias), represented by a sequence of
the symbols for the semuncia and the uncia.
1/24 semuncia, semunciae (from semi- + uncia, i.e. 12 of an uncia), represented by several
variant glyphs deriving from the shape of Greek letter sigma , one variant resembling the pound
sign without the horizontal line(s) and another resembling Cyrillic letter .
1/36 binae sextulae, binarum sextularum ("two sextulas") or duella, duellae, represented by a
sequence of two reversed S.
1/48 sicilicus, sicilici, represented by a reversed C.
1/72 sextula, sextulae (1/6 of an uncia), represented by a reversed S.
1/144 dimidia sextula, dimidiae sextulae ("half a sextula"), represented by a reversed S crossed
by a horizontal line.
1/288 scripulum, scripuli, represented by a symbol resembling Cyrillic letter .
1/1728 siliqua, siliquae, represented by a symbol resembling closing guillemets .

IIII or IV?
The notation of Roman numerals has varied through the centuries.
Originally, it was common to use IIII to represent "four", because IV
represented the Roman god Jupiter, whose Latin name, IVPITER,
begins with IV. The subtractive notation (which uses IV instead of IIII)
has become universally used only in modern times. For example,
Forme of Cury, a manuscript from 1390, uses IX for "nine", but IIII for
An inscription on Admiralty
Arch, London. The numeral
"four". Another document in the same manuscript, from 1381, uses IV
translates to 1910.
and IX. A third document in the same manuscript uses IIII, IV, and IX.
Constructions such as IIIII for "five", IIX for "eight" or VV for "ten"
have also been discovered. Subtractive notation arose from regular
Latin usage: the number "18" was duodeviginti or two from twenty; the number "19" was undeviginti
or one from twenty. The use of subtractive notation increased the complexity of performing Roman
arithmetic, without conveying the benefits of a full positional notation system.
Likewise, on some buildings it is possible to see MDCCCCX, for example, representing 1910 instead of
MCMX notably Admiralty Arch in London. Another notable example is on Harvard Medical School's
Library which reads MDCCCCIIII for 1904.
Another likely tale is that the low literacy rate made it difficult for some to do subtraction, where the IIII
notation could simply be counted.

Calendars and clocks

Clock faces that are labelled using Roman numerals conventionally show IIII for 4 o'clock and IX for 9
o'clock, using the subtractive principle in one case and not the other. There are many suggested
explanations for this, several of which may be true:

The four-character form IIII creates a visual symmetry with the VIII on the other side, which IV
would not.
With IIII, the number of symbols on the clock totals twenty 'I's, four 'V's, and four 'X's, so clock
makers need only a single mold with a V, five 'I's, and an X in order to make the correct number
of numerals for their clocks: VIIIIIX. This is cast four times for each clock and the twelve

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required numerals are separated:

V IIII IX

VI II IIX

VII III X

VIII I IX
The IIX and one of the IXs are rotated 180 to form XI and XII. The alternative with IV uses
seventeen 'I's, five 'V's, and four 'X's, possibly requiring the clock maker to have several different
molds.

IIII was the preferred way for the ancient Romans to write 4, since they to a large extent avoided
subtraction.
As noted above, it has been suggested that since IV is the first two letters of IVPITER (Jupiter),
the main god of the Romans, it was not appropriate to use.
The I symbol would be the only symbol in the first 4 hours of the clock, the V symbol would only
appear in the next 4 hours, and the X symbol only in the last 4 hours. This would add to the
clock's radial symmetry.
IV is difficult to read upside down and on an angle, particularly at that location on the clock.
Louis XIV, king of France, preferred IIII over IV, ordered his clockmakers to produce clocks with
IIII and not IV, and thus it has remained.[1]

Chemistry
As it relates to the nomenclature of inorganic compounds, only IV should be used. For example MnO2
should be named manganese (IV) oxide; manganese (IIII) oxide is unacceptable.

XCIX or IC
Rules regarding Roman numerals often state that a symbol representing 10x may not precede any
symbol larger than 10x+1. For example, C cannot be preceded by I or V, only by X (or, of course, by a
symbol representing a value equal to or larger than C). Thus, one should represent the number "ninetynine" as XCIX, not as the "shortcut" IC. However, these rules are not universally followed.
This 'problem' manifested in questions as to why 1990 was not written as MXM instead of the universal
usage MCMXC, or why 1999 was not written simply IMM or MIM as opposed to the universal
MCMXCIX.

Year in Roman numerals

In seventeenth century Europe, using Roman numerals for the year of publication for books was
standard; there were many other places it was used as well. Publishers attempted to make the number
easier to read by those more accustomed to Arabic positional numerals. On British title pages, there
were often spaces between the groups of digits: M DCC LX I (relating to 1000 700 60 1 or 1761) is one
example. This may have come from the French, who separated the groups of digits with periods, as:
M.DCC.LXI. or M. DCC. LXI. Notice the period at the end of the sequence; many countries did this for
Roman numerals in general, but not necessarily Britain. (Periods were also common on each side of
numerals in running text, as in "commonet .iij. viros illos".)

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These practices faded from general use before the start of the twentieth century, though the cornerstones
of major buildings still occasionally use them. Roman numerals are today still used on building faces for
dates: 2007 can be represented as MMVII. They are also sometimes used in the credits of movies and
television programs to denote the year of production, particularly programs made by the BBC.

Other modern usage

Roman numerals remained in common use until about the 14th century,
when they were replaced by Arabic numerals (thought to have been
introduced to Europe from al-Andalus, by way of Arab traders and
arithmetic treatises, around the 11th century). The use of Roman
numerals today is mostly restricted to ordinal numbers, such as
volumes or chapters in a book or the numbers identifying monarchs or
popes (eg. Elizabeth II, Benedict XVI, etc.).
Sometimes the numerals are written using lower-case letters (thus: i, ii,
iii, iv, etc.), particularly if numbering paragraphs or sections within
chapters, or for the pagination of the front matter of a book.
Undergraduate degrees at British universities are generally graded
using I, IIi, IIii, III for first, upper second (often pronounced "two
one"), lower second (often pronounced "two two") and third class
respectively.
Modern English usage also employs Roman numerals in many books
(especially anthologies), movies (eg. Star Trek and Star Wars), sporting
events (eg. the Olympic Games, the Super Bowl, and WWE's
WrestleMania), and historic events (eg. World War I, World War II).
The common unifying theme seems to be stories or events that are
episodic or annual in nature, with the use of classical numbering
suggesting importance or timelessness.

Roman numbers on Cutty

Sark, Greenwich

Sports teams can be referred to as the number of players in the squad

with roman numerals. In rugby union, the 1st XV of a particular club
would be the 1st and best team the club has, likewise for the XIII in
rugby league, and XI for football (soccer), field hockey and cricket.
The Shepherd gate clock with

In chemistry, Roman numerals were used to denote the group in the

Roman numbers up to XXIII
periodic table of the elements. But there was not international
(and 0), in Greenwich
agreement as to whether the group of metals which dissolve in water
should be called Group IA or IB, for example, so although references
may use them, the international norm has recently switched to Arabic numerals.

In astronomy, the natural satellites or "moons" of the planets are traditionally designated by capital
Roman numerals, at first by order from the center of the planet, as the four Galilean satellites of Jupiter
are numbered, and later by order of discovery; e.g., Callisto was "Jupiter IV" or "J IV". With recent
discoveriesJupiter currently has 63 known satellitesas well as computerization, this is somewhat

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disparaged for the minor worlds, at least in computerized listings. Science fiction, and not astronomy
per se, has adopted the use for numbering the planets around a star; e.g., Planet Earth is called "Sol III".
In earthquake seismology, Roman numerals are used to designate degrees of the Mercalli intensity scale.
In music theory, while scale degrees are typically represented with Arabic numerals, often modified with
a caret or circumflex, the triads that have these degrees as their roots are often identified by Roman
numerals (as in chord symbols). See also diatonic functions. Upper-case Roman numerals indicate major
triads while lower-case Roman numerals indicate minor triads, as the following chart illustrates. In the
major mode the triad on the seventh scale degree, the leading tone triad, is diminished.
Roman
numeral
Scale degree
(major mode)

ii

iii

IV

vi

tonic supertonic mediant subdominant dominant submediant

vii
leading
tone/subtonic

Roman numerals often appear in crossword puzzles. For example, the answer to the clue "half of MCIV"
would be "DLII", or the answer to the clue "Ovid's 552" would also be "DLII".

Modern non-English speaking usage

The above uses are customary for English-speaking countries. Although many of them are also
maintained in other countries, those countries have additional uses for Roman numerals which are
unknown in English-speaking regions.
The French, the Portuguese, the Polish, the Romanian and the Spanish languages use capital Roman
numerals to denote centuries. For example, 'XVIII' refers to the eighteenth century, so as to avoid
confusion between the '18th century' and the '1800s'. (The Italians usually take the opposite approach,
basing names of centuries on the digits of the years; quattrocento for example is the common Italian
name for secolo XV, the fifteenth century.) Some scholars in English-speaking countries have adopted
the former method, among them Lyon Sprague de Camp.
In Poland, Russia, and in Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian languages, mixed Roman and Arabic
numerals are used to record dates (usually on tombstones, but also elsewhere - such as in formal letters
and official documents). Just as an old clock recorded the hour by Roman numerals while the minutes
were measured in Arabic numerals, the month is written in Roman numerals while the day is in Arabic
numerals: 14-VI-1789 is 14 June 1789. This is how dates are inscribed on the walls of the Kremlin, for
example. This method has the advantage that days and months are not confused in rapid note-taking, and
that any range of days or months can be expressed without confusion. For instance, V-VIII is May to
August, while 1-V-31-VIII is May first to August thirty-first. Note, though, that Spanish journalists use
another format with the month's initial for certain dates even if it may be ambiguous: 11-M marks the
bombing of trains in Madrid on 11 de marzo de 2004, not 11 de mayo.
In Eastern Europe, especially the Baltic nations, Roman numerals are used to represent the days of the
week in hours-of-operation signs displayed in windows or on doors of businesses. Monday is
represented by I, which is the initial day of the week. Sunday is represented by VII, which is the final
day of the week. The hours of operation signs are tables composed of two columns where the left
column is the day of the week in Roman numerals and the right column is a range of hours of operation

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from starting time to closing time. The following example hours-of-operation table would be for a
business whose hours of operation are 9:30AM to 5:30PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays;
9:30AM to 7:00PM on Tuesdays and Fridays; and 9:30AM to 1:00PM on Saturdays; and which is
closed on Sundays.
I 9:3017:30
II 9:3019:00
III 9:3017:30
IV 9:3017:30
V 9:3019:00
VI 9:3013:00
VII

Since the French use capital Roman numerals to refer to the quarters of the year ('III' is the third
quarter), and this has become the norm in some European standards organisation, the mixed RomanArabic method of recording the date has switched to lowercase Roman numerals in many circles, as '4viii-1961'. (ISO has since specified that dates should be given in all Arabic numerals, in ISO 8601
formats.)
In geometry, Roman numerals are often used to show lines of equal length.
In Romania, Roman numerals are used for floor numbering. Likewise apartments in central Amsterdam
are indicated as '138-III', with both an Arabic numeral (number of the block or house) and a Roman
numeral (floor number). The apartment on the ground floor is indicated as '138-huis'.
In Poland, Roman numerals are used for ordinals in names of some institutions. In particular high
schools ("V Liceum Oglnoksztacce w Krakowie" - 5th High School in Krakw), tax offices ("II
Urzd Skarbowy w Gdasku" - 2nd tax office in Gdask) and courts ("I Wydzia Cywilny Sdu
Okrgowego" - District Court, 1st Civil Division) - use Roman numerals. Institutions that use
"Instutition nr N" notation always use Arabic numerals. These include elementary ("Szkoa Podstawowa
nr 5") and middle schools ("Gimnazjum nr 5").
Roman numerals are rarely used in Asia. The motion picture rating system in Hong Kong uses
categories I, IIA, IIB, and III based on Roman numerals.

Alternate forms
In the Middle Ages, Latin writers used a horizontal line above a
particular numeral to represent one thousand times that numeral, and
additional vertical lines on both sides of the numeral to denote one hundred times the number, as in
these examples:

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Roman Numerals, 16th

century

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