About Roman Numerals

Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages.

The seven basic symbols are:

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

Examples:

  • II = 2 (1 + 1)
  • IV = 4 (5 - 1)
  • IX = 9 (10 - 1)
  • XL = 40 (50 - 10)
  • XC = 90 (100 - 10)
  • CD = 400 (500 - 100)
  • CM = 900 (1000 - 100)
  • LXXXVII = 87 (50 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 1 + 1)