Roman Numerals: A Brief History

Did you know that Roman numerals were invented between 850 and 750 BC, long before the city of Rome was founded?

The origins of Roman numerals can be traced back to Ancient Rome. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

No, I'm not serious - that isn't the topic of the piece... Roman numerals aren't necessarily a Roman innovation, either.

They were first employed to write numbers out in Ancient Rome, and they are still widely used today.

Roman numerals gracing brickwork over the doorways of truly old buildings are a common sight, indicating the year the building was built.

Although, despite being designed in 1852, the most prevalent place where they may be found is on clock faces – even with London's famed Big Ben's clock-face having Roman numerals for the digits 1 – 12.

So, to return to what I said at the start of this essay, if Roman numerals aren't from Ancient Rome, where did they come from?

Etruscan numbers and Etruscan civilization

The region was inhabited by a variety of cultures before Rome was formed approximately between 850 and 750 BC.

The Etruscans were the most advanced of the area's indigenous, with Roman historians conceding that much of their culture was founded on the Etruscans between 850 and 750 BC.

The Etruscan territory, which comprised much of north-central Italy, was located on the southern outskirts of Rome.

The Etruscans utilized number symbols as early as 900 BC, with the numbers "I," "," "10," and "50" representing "1," "5", "10," and "50," respectively.

The Etruscans used symbols for larger numerals, although it's unclear which symbol corresponds to which number.

The Etruscans, like the Romans before them, would mash their symbols together to form the appropriate number, but they did so from right to left rather than right to left.

As a result, an Etruscan equation for 16 would be “10 + 5 + 1” and displayed as “I + +X,” whereas a Roman equation for 16 would be “1 + 5 + 10” and displayed as “I + V + X.”

Roman numerals from the first century.

The early Roman numbers for 1, 10, and 100 were the same as the Etruscan numerals, but the symbols for 5 and 50 were converted to symbols.

The symbol for "100" went through several changes, from "I" or "IC" to "" or "C" – with "C" eventually winning out and being the official numeral for "100."

Although it is unknown why the letter "C" became the symbol for "100," some speculate that it was chosen because it was a popular Latin letter and also the first letter of the Latin word "centrum," which means "hundred."

As the Roman Empire, Republic, and finally Empire evolved and expanded, the symbols used underwent several changes before being paired with Latin letters to make them easier to understand and utilize.

The Roman numerals had evolved into the kind we all recognize and use today by the reign of Augustus Caesar (27 BC – 19 AD).

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Roman numerals continued to be used over the world, with minor variations such as the usage of lowercase letters rather than capital letters.

Clocks and watches with Roman numerals.

Clock and watch faces are one aspect of life where Roman numerals are frequently seen.

However, as the more inquisitive among you will have noticed when looking at a Roman numeral clock, the number "4" is displayed as "IIII" rather than "IV" – but why is this?

Because "IV" was frequently used as a shorthand or abbreviation for the God Jupiter, people didn't want their clocks to read "one," "two," "three," "Jupiter," "five," and so on - replacing the Roman norm of "IV" with "IIII"!

So there you have it, a quick history lesson on the evolution and history of Roman numerals – now you can add numerals to your list of non-Roman things.