Rules:

H –ave an open mind

A –void distractions
P –pay respect to everyone
P –articipate
Y –es to doing your best
 Learning Objectives:

 Define Roman numeral

 Explain the rules of Roman numerals
 Describe and demonstrate how to convert
Roman numerals.
ROMAN NUMERALS
 ROMAN NUMERALS
 The numeric system represented by Roman numerals originated
in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing
numbers throughout Europe well into the late Middle Ages.
Numbers in this system are represented by combinations of
letters from the Latin alphabet. Roman numerals, as used today,
are based on seven symbols:
 The use of Roman numerals continued long after
the decline of the Roman Empire. From the 14th
century on, Roman numerals began to be replaced
in most contexts by the more convenient Hindu –
Arabic numerals; however, this process was
gradual, and the use of Roman numerals persists in
some minor applications to this day.
 Basic Combinations
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX
 
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
X XX XXX XL L LX LXX LXXX XC
 
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
C CC CCC CD D DC DCC DCCC CM
 The Rules:
When a symbol appears after a larger symbol it is added.
Example: VI = V + I = 5 + 1 = 6
But if the symbol appears before a larger symbol it is
subtracted.
Example: IX = X – 1 = 10 – 1 = 9
 Don’t use the same symbol more than three times in a
row (but IIII is
sometimes used for 4, particularly on clocks).
 Really Big Numbers

Numbers greater than 3, 999 (MMMCMXCIX) are

formed by placing a dash over the symbol, meaning
“times 1, 000”, but these are not commonly used:
 How do I write large numbers?

The biggest Roman numeral is M for 1 000, so

one easy way to write large numbers is to line up
the Ms: MMMMMMM would be 7 000, for
instance. This system gets cumbersome quickly.
When they needed to work with many large
numbers, the Romans often wrote a bar above a
numeral. The bar meant to multiply by 1 000. Using
this method, 7 000 would be .
 How to Convert to Roman Numerals?

Break the number into thousands, hundreds, tens, ones

and write down each in turn.
Example: Convert 1 984 to Roman Numerals.
Break 1 984 into 1000, 900, 80 and 4. Then do each
conversion.
• 1 000 = M
• 900 = CM
• 80 = LXXX
• 4 = IV
 
1 000 + 900 + 80 + 4 = MCMLXXXIV
 How to Remember?

Think “MeDiCal XaVIer”.

It has the roman numerals in descending order from 1
000 to 1.