Roman Numerals

Roman Numerals are the letters used by the Roman Empire to show numeric values.

• I = 1
• V = 5
• X = 10
• L = 50
• C = 100
• D = 500
• M = 1000

Large Numbers

To write large numbers, like for instance five thousand, Romans would not use MMMMM. Rather, they would write V and put a bar over it. A bar over a letter represents one thousand times that letter.

Subtraction

Letters are put in order from greatest to least. A lesser letter occurring before a greater letter is subtraction. When subtracting, only subtracting powers of ten such as I, X, or C is allowed. You cannot subtract with V, for example. Too, you can only subtract one digit away. For example, IIX is not 8 but rather use VIII for 8. Finally, you cannot subtract one letter from another letter if it is ten times greater than it, so one would not be able to subtract X from M since M is one hundred times greater than X, yet you can subtract X from either L or C.

They can still be found today when showing dates for movies or television shows.

• Example: MCMLXXXIII = 1983
• Example: MCC = 1200