When the numeral 3 is held in place by one or more zeros, the value increases by an order of magnitude, e.g., 30, 300, 3000, and so on. In the Roman numeral system, numerals are represented by various letters. The basic numerals used by the Romans are: I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, M = 1000. These numerals can be strung together, in which case they would be added together in order to represent larger numbers. For example, the number 72 would be represented as LXXII (L + X + X + I + I, or 50 + 10 + 10 + 1 + 1 in Arabic numbers).
In order to prevent numbers from becoming too long and cumbersome, the Romans also allowed for subtraction when a smaller numeral precedes a larger numeral. Therefore, the number 14 would be represented as XIV instead of XIIII. Under this system, a numeral can only precede another numeral that is equal to ten times the value of the smaller numeral or less. For example, I can only precede and, thus, be subtracted from V and X, which are equal to five and ten times the value of I, respectively.
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