About Roman Numerals
Letters used to represent numbers is usually a sign of some type of code, but in Roman times and still today, the Roman numeral system consists of all letters. The system does not utilize all the letters of the American alphabet, but it is easy to understand and decipher once you know the basic concept.
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Function
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The Roman numeral system uses 7 letters to represent common numbers. I represents 1, V represents 5, X represents 10, L represents 50, C represents 100, D represents 500, and M represents 1000. To create other numbers, Roman numerals are placed side by side. For example, the number 3 is III in Roman numerals. The number 16 is XVI in Roman numerals, with the largest number always represented first.
The only case where the largest number is not represented is when writing a 4 or 9. For 4, IV is written to represent 1 less than 5. For 9, IX is written to represent 1 less than 10. For larger numbers like 59, it would be written as LIX.
History
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Roman numerals started out as other symbols, when sticks were used to create the numbers. Before a V was commonly used for the number 5, upside Vs represented the number 5 and two of them placed tip to tip created the X that represented 10. There was never a symbol for zero in the Roman numeral system until 725, when the letter N was used. Now, the number 0 is commonly used when necessary.
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Misconceptions
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While the number 4 is usually represented by IV, some historians use IIII instead because IV also refers to the god known as Jupiter. Along with the 9 and 4, larger Roman numerals require specialized formatting. For example, the number 900 is written as CM, meaning 100 less than 1000. For larger numbers, a line is drawn above the letter to represent that number times one thousand. For example, 5000 is drawn as either a V with a line over it or MMMMM.
Significance
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Today, Roman numerals are still used in everyday life and taught in grade school. Sports commonly use them for large events like Super Bowl XL or Wrestlemania XIV. Credits for films or television shows use Roman numerals to signify the year of creation. Laws and official listings are often ordered using Roman numerals and book series are often ordered this way as well. Other examples are clocks, Popes, wars and movie sequels.
Features
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Medieval Roman numerals used the rest of the alphabet to expand on the basic Roman numeral formula. A represents 5, S represents 7, O represents 11, F represents 40, R represents 80, and T represents 160 among other numbers. This version is a lot more complicated and not commonly used today.
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