1. What are Roman Numerals?
There are many ways to represent the numbers in Maths. Roman numbers, one of them, use symbols based on the ancient Roman system. Moreover, this system helps us to write numbers using fewer words or numbers such as 500 can simply be written as D.
So, in this article, you will learn about roman numbers and various other topics related to roman numerals.
1.1 The Seven Base Roman Numerals
These seven letters create new numbers when combined in various ways. Attention should be paid while placing them as the same letters create an entirely new number in a different order. They are as follows, in order from smallest to largest:
| Roman Numerals |
Numbers |
| I |
1 |
| V |
5 |
| X |
10 |
| L |
50 |
| C |
100 |
| D |
500 |
| M |
1000 |
1.2 Roman Numeral Table
Following are some roman numerals from 1 to 3000. Observe how they can be arranged and used to represent any kind of number:
| I = 1 |
XX = 20 |
CL = 150 |
| II = 2 |
XXI = 21 |
CC = 200 |
| III = 3 |
XXII = 22 |
CCC = 300 |
| IV = 4 |
XXIII = 23 |
CD = 400 |
| V = 5 |
XXIV = 24 |
D = 500 |
| VI = 6 |
XXV = 25 |
DC = 600 |
| VII = 7 |
XXVI = 26 |
DCC = 700 |
| VIII = 8 |
XXVII = 27 |
DCCC = 800 |
| IX = 9 |
XXVIII = 28 |
CM = 900 |
| X = 10 |
XXIX = 29 |
M = 1000 |
| XI = 11 |
XXX = 30 |
MI = 1001 |
| XII = 12 |
XL = 40 |
MV = 1005 |
| XIII = 13 |
L = 50 |
ML = 1050 |
| XIV = 14 |
LX = 60 |
MD = 1500 |
| XV = 15 |
LXX = 70 |
MCM = 1900 |
| XVI = 16 |
LXXX = 80 |
MCMXCIX = 1999 |
| XVII = 17 |
XC = 90 |
MM = 2000 |
| XVIII = 18 |
C = 100 |
MMD = 2500 |
| XIX = 19 |
CI = 101 |
MMM = 3000 |
1.3 Rules for Writing Roman Numerals
Following are the rules for writing roman numerals:
- You can use either capital or lowercase letters to write Roman numerals.
For example, VI and vi both mean 6.
- If a letter of lower value follows a letter of larger value, add the values.
For example, In the Roman numeral XII, you add 10, 1, and 1, which makes 12.
- If a letter of lower value precedes a letter of higher value, subtract the smaller value.
For example, In the Roman numeral IV, you subtract 1 from 5, which makes 4.
- Roman numerals don't use four identical letters in a row.
For example, You'd never exceed XXX, or 10+10+10, for the placement of the ten. Since we can't use four identical numerals in a row, 40 will be XL and not XXXX.
- A line above the roman numerals indicates that it is to be multiplied by 1000.
For example, When V looks like V̅, that indicates 5 x 1000 = 5000.
- Treat each part of the number separately (ones, tens, hundreds, etc.).
For example, Even though 1999 is one fewer than 2000, you write MCMXCIX instead of MIM because you can’t skip the place value.
1.4 How to translate Roman Numerals
In order to break down a number like MCMXCIV into parts, consider the following steps:
- M is for the thousands (1000).
- CM is for the hundreds (1000 - 100 = 900).
- XC is for tens (100 - 10 = 90).
- IV is for the ones (5 - 1 = 4).
Hence, following the above steps, we get MCMXCIV
= 1000 + 900 + 90 + 4
= 1994
