Roman numerals are a special kind of numeral system that originated in ancient Rome. These numbers have remained in Europe until the Late Middle Ages. Alphabet letters are used in this system to represent roman numerals. Before understanding the roman numbers, first, see what roman alphabets are? Because roman alphabets denote roman numbers.

There are only 23 alphabets in the roman system. J, U and W are not treated as roman letters from 26 English alphabets. There are as follows A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Y and Z.

Also Read: Numbers in Words in English

Few important roam numbers denoted by roman letters are I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, M = 1000.

Now find the list of roman numbers from 1-100

1	I	34	XXXIV	67	LXVII
2	II	35	XXXV	68	LXVIII
3	III	36	XXXVI	69	LXIX
4	IV	37	XXXVII	70	LXX
5	V	38	XXXVIII	71	LXXI
6	VI	39	XXXIX	72	LXXII
7	VII	40	XL	73	LXXIII
8	VIII	41	XLI	74	LXXIV
9	IX	42	XLII	75	LXXV
10	X	43	XLIII	76	LXXVI
11	XI	44	XLIV	77	LXXVII
12	XII	45	XLV	78	LXXVIII
13	XIII	46	XLVI	79	LXXIX
14	XIV	47	XLVII	80	LXXX
15	XV	48	XLVIII	81	LXXXI
16	XVI	49	XLIX	82	LXXXII
17	XVII	50	L	83	LXXXIII
18	XVIII	51	LI	84	LXXXIV
19	XIX	52	LII	85	LXXXV
20	XX	53	LIII	86	LXXXVI
21	XXI	54	LIV	87	LXXXVII
22	XXII	55	LV	88	LXXXVIII
23	XXIII	56	LVI	89	LXXXIX
24	XXIV	57	LVII	90	XC
25	XXV	58	LVIII	91	XCI
26	XXVI	59	LIX	92	XCII
27	XXVII	60	LX	93	XCIII
28	XXVIII	61	LXI	94	XCIV
29	XXIX	62	LXII	95	XCV
30	XXX	63	LXIII	96	XCVI
31	XXXI	64	LXIV	97	XCVII
32	XXXII	65	LXV	98	XCVIII
33	XXXIII	66	LXVI	99	XCIX
				100	C

Now let’s see what the rules involved in writing the above roman numbers are.

1. When a number symbol appears after a greater number symbol, it will be added. For Example- VII = V + I + I = 5 + 1 +1 = 7.
2. When a number symbol appears before a greater number symbol, it will be subtracted. For Example- IV = V – I = 5 – 1= 4.
3. When a number symbol appears after a greater number symbol, it will be subtracted. For Example- XXV = X + X + V = 10 + 10 + 5 = 25.
4. When a number symbol appears before a greater number symbol, it will be subtracted. For Example- XXXIX = X + X + X + X – I = 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 – 1 = 39.

To make it more simple, break the number into Ones, Tens, Hundreds, and Thousands, and write it down.

Also Read: Girolamo Cardano- Man Behind Complex Numbers.

Convert 1985 to Roman Numerals

Break 1984 into 1000, 900, 80, 5 and then do conversion

1000 = M

900 = CM

90 = XC

5 = V

1000 + 900 + 80 + 5 = 1985, so 1985 = MCMXCV

Convert 2020 to Roman Numerals

Break 2020 into 1000, 1000, 10, 10 and then do conversion

1000 = M

1000 = M

10 = X

10 = X

1000 + 1000 + 10 + 10 = 2020, so 2020 = MMXX

Convert 1562 to Roman Numerals

Break 1562 into 1000, 500, 60, 2 and then do conversion

1000 = M

500 = D

60 = LX

2 = II

1000 + 500 + 60 + 2 = 1562, so 1562 = MDLXII

Convert 2658 to Roman Numerals

Break 2658 into 1000, 1000, 600, 50, 8 and then do conversion

1000 = M

1000 = M

600 = DC

50 = L

8 = VIII

1000 + 1000 + 600 + 50 + 8 = 2658, so 2658 = MMDCLVIII

Also Read: How many zeroes in a Million, Billion, Trillion, Nonillion, Quadrillion, Sextillion, Googol

Now see the roman numbers from 100 -1000

100	C	600	DC
101	CI	601	DCI
109	CIX	609	DCIX
200	CC	700	DCC
201	CCI	701	DCCI
209	CCIX	709	DCCIX
300	CCC	800	DCCC
301	CCCI	801	DCCCI
309	CCCIX	809	DCCCIX
400	CD	899	DCCCXCIX
401	CDI	900	DM
409	CDIX	901	DMI
500	D	909	DMIX
501	DI	999	DMXCIX
509	DIX	1000	M

Rules to Convert Numbers to Roman Numerals

The three primary rules for reading and writing Roman numerals:

1. Any letter can be repeated maximum for three times, for example, CCC= 300, XX= 20, and so on.
2. If one or more letters are placed after another letter with greater value, then add that amount.

XII = 12 (10 + 2 = 12)

DCCC = 800 (500 + 100 + 100 + 100 = 800)

Example of additive Rule

265	100 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 5	C + C + L + X + V	CCLXV
133	100 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 3	C + X + X + X + III	CXXXIII
182	100 + 50 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 2	C + L + X + X + X + II	CLXXXII

3. If a letter is placed before another letter of greater value, subtract that amount.

XC= 90 (100 – 10 = 90)

CM = 900 ( 1000 – 100 = 900 )

Example of Subtractive Rule 

199	100 + (100 – 10) + (10 – 1)	C + X + C + I + X	CXCIX
143	100 + (50 – 10) + 3	C + L + X + III	CXLIII
296	100 + 100 + (100 – 10) + 5 + 1	C + C + X + C + V + I	CCXCVI

More Examples:

123    CXXIII

189    CLXXXIX

256    CCLVI

294    CCXCIV

333    CCCXXXIII

369    CCCLXIX

452    CDLII

492    CDXCII

543    DXLIII

588    DLXXXVIII

654    DCLIV

691    DCXCI

710    DCCX

744    DCCXLIV

888    DCCCLXXXVIII

873    DCCCLXXIII

926    CMXXVI

985    CMLXXXV

1	5	10	50	100	1000
I	V	X	L	C	M
5000	10000	50000	100000	500000	1000000
V¯	X¯	L¯	C¯	D¯	M¯

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