Roman numerals

The oldest numerals used by the Romans, even before they knew the alphabet, were the symbols I = 1 (a stretched finger), V = 5 (an open hand), and X = 10 (two open hands). The Romans adopted their alphabet from the Etruscans around the 7th century BC. The symbols they did not use in their Latin alphabet were used to represent numbers. . Over time, the symbol developed as shown in .

The Etruscan symbol О was read as “theta” and from it came C for the numeral 100. This symbol is also related to the Latin word “centum,” which also means 100. The numeral 1000 was represented by Ф or the letter M, from the Latin word “mille,” meaning a thousand.

By splitting the symbol Ф = 1000, the symbol D = 500 was created. Other values were formed by combining the basic symbols. The rule was that symbols placed after a higher numeral were added: VI = 5 + 1 = 6. Symbols placed before a higher numeral were subtracted: IX = 10 – 1 = 9. If a numeral was enclosed in parentheses, it meant ten times its value (M) = 10,000; if in double parentheses, one hundred times its value ((D)) = 50,000. Halves were indicated by crossing through the numeral ł = 0.5. The ancient Romans did not know the number zero, and thus had no symbol for it.

What year is represented by the notation: MDCCLXVIII?

M = 1000                     MDCCLXVIII = 1768

D = 500

C = 100

C = 100

L = 50

X = 10

V = 5

I = 1

I = 1

I = 1

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    1768

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