Roman numerals from 1 to 1000

Currently most people use the system of Arabic numerals for being easier. Although in other times it was different. Many years ago Roman empire dominated large territories for several centuries. With his vast mastery he spread his philosophy and knowledge everywhere, making known Roman numerals. 

In this guide we aim to teach you this numbering system, which is still used in some things (like in the movies: Stars Wars IV, V, VI), and explain it to you so that you can learn it easily. First of all, if you already know the theory and what you want is to use a converter, you can use this one from here:

Roman Numeral Translator (Converter)

What are Roman numerals?

Roman numerals are a rarely used numbering system today. They are made up uppercase letters to represent the numbers. The union of these letters is added or subtracted to make way for a different number. All the letters used are as follows:

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

For example, the number 1 is represented by the letter I", and the two by means of the sum of 2 "II". Once these equivalences are understood, below we will explain how to write Roman numerals.

How are Roman numerals written?

To write the Roman numerals you must master addition and subtraction. The rest of things are simple rules that we will show you. To start you have to know that there can be no more than 3 equal letters in a row.

If two letters are equal, or the first is greater than the second, add up, otherwise (where the first letter is less than the second), are subtracted. For example:

• I = 1
• II = 1 + 1 = 2
• II = 1 + 1 + 1 = 3
• VII = 5 + 1 +1 = 7
• IV = 5 - 1 = 4
• IX = 10 - 1 = 9
• XIX = 10 + 10 - 1 = 19

In case you want to use a number equal to or greater than 4, you will have to place a line, called link, at the top of the letters. This will mean that the number is being multiplied by 1. For example, the 4.000 in Roman numerals is represented like this:

The number 10.000 is represented like this:

And finally, one that can be complex, the 50.000 in Roman numerals is written as follows:

In the past, very large numbers were not needed, such as million. And the Romans did not care. Even so, it is possible to write them by placing a line below and above the letters. In that sense, if we wanted to refer to 5, we would use the format:

The number 5 (V) and its multiples, 50 and 500 (L, D), they cannot be used to subtract. It is incorrect to write «VC» to refer to the number 95.

The correct form is: XCV.

List of Roman numerals

Since you have a notion of how to write Roman numerals, it is convenient that you see a complete list with the numbers from 1 to 1000, and another series of higher numbers. This way you will become more familiar with them and you will be able to understand them better.

the 1 to 50

the 1 to 100

the 1 to 500

the 1 to 1000

from 1 000 onwards

In the previous lists we have reached the number 1.000, which is represented by an M. Below we present other higher numbers that may be of interest to you.

• 1:M
• 1: MVII
• 1: MLXXV
• 2: M
• 2: MMXIX
• 3: MMM
• 3 823: MMMDCCCXXIII
• 3 901: MMMCMI
• 4 001: IVI
• 5 954: VCMLIV

We place random numbers because we consider that numbering them all would be unnecessary and inefficient.  Observe them and see what is the structure we use to write them, and better yet, come up with another way to represent the same number. Then we will tell you why they can only be written that way. That information will help you a lot.

Roman numeral rules

Admittedly, arithmetic operations with Roman numerals is somewhat complicated, in fact, that is one of the reasons why this numbering system lost use. The way to solve these operations consists of following some steps, as is the case with Arabic numerals, however, the process with Roman numerals It is longer.

Here we will explain how add, subtract, multiply and divide with the numbers of ancient rome.

Amount

To add 2 Roman numerals you must follow the following steps:

1. Convert the subtractions into additions. For example: from XXIX (29) to XXVIIII. It does not matter if a letter is repeated more than 3 times.
2. Concatenate (join) both numbers. For example: XXIX + XIV = XXVIIII + XIIII = XXVIIIIXIIII (here we put them together).
3. Order the letters from greatest to least. For example: XXVIIIIXIIII = XXXVIIIIIIII.
4. That is, correctly write the letters by adding from right to left. For example: XXXVVIII.
5. Repeat the process following the rules we have explained until it is perfect. For example: XXXVVIII → XXXXIII → XLIII.

Resta

Subtraction is easier than addition. To carry it out, follow the following steps.

1. Convert the subtractions into additions. For example: from CCXLI (241) to CCXXXXI. It does not matter if a letter is repeated more than 3 times.
2. Eliminate the common letters between the two numbers. For example: CCXLI - LXXXV = CCXXXXI - LXXXV = CCXI - LV.
3. Expand the letters of the first term until the letters of the second term appear. For example: CCXI - LV = CLLXI - L
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the second term is empty. For example: CLLXI - LV = CLXI - V = CLVVI - V =
5. That is, write the letters correctly. For example: CLVI = 156. In this case it remains the same because there are no letters subtracting.

Multiplication

To multiply the Roman numerals you must know add them, and divide and multiply Arabic numbers by 2.  You also have to make a table, placing a Roman numeral on the right and another on the left. Then follow the next steps.

We are going to refer to "AT" like the numbers on the left already "B" like the ones on the right.

1. Divide A by 2 and place the quotient below. For example: 23/2 = 11.
2. Multiply B by 2 and place the result below.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until the left column (term A) is number 1.
4. Remove all rows from the table in which the quotient on the left is even.
5. Add up all the numbers that are left in the right column (term B).

See an example of how you should multiply two Roman numerals.

• A = LXXVII = 77
• XXXVIII (38)
• 19th (XNUMX)
• ix (9)
• IV (4)
• II (2)
• I (1)
• B = XXXVIII = 38
• LXXVI (76)
• CL II (152)
• CCCIV (304)
• ADVIII (608)
• MCCXVI (1216)
• MMCDXXXII (2432)

Now we delete all the rows where in the left part there is an even number.

• LXXVII (77)
• 19th (XNUMX)
• ix (9)
• I (1)
• XXXVIII (38)
• CL II (152)
• CCCIV (304)
• MMCDXXXII (2432)

Now we only have to add the numbers on the right side as we have already done.

• XXXVIII + CLII + CCCIV + MMCDXXXII
• XXXVIII + CLII + CCCIII +MMCCCCXXXII (convert subtractions into sums)
• XXXVIIICLIICCCIIIIMMCCCCXXXII (put the numbers together)
• MMCCCCCCCCLXXXXXXVIIIIIIIIIII (sort them from highest to lowest)
• MMDCCCLLXVXI (simplify by adding from right to left)
• MMDCCCCXXVI (simplify by adding from right to left)
• MMCMXXVI (final result: 2926)

Division

Divisions in Roman numerals they were not very successful, besides that there are no known rules to remove them.

The only thing that is known is that you have to subtract the divisor to dividend until you get to a number less than the divisor. For example: 10/3. Here the dividend is 10 and the divisor is 3.

What you must do to calculate the division in Roman numerals is the following:

• 10 - 3 = 7
• 7 - 3 = 4
• 4 - 3 = 1

The remainder is 1 and the quotient is 3 (because we have subtracted 3 times). So the answer is 3, however, it is not entirely true, since 10/3 = 3,33333 ...

You must do this same process with Roman letters and you will get the result in that number system. In order for you to be clear about the information, we are going to show you more things that you should take into account about these numbers. We are sure that this way you will understand them completely.

1. Roman numerals they have an ordinal value. Therefore, it would be incorrect to say “VIII. º Olympic Games ». The correct thing is: VIII Olympic Games.
2. The letters "V, D and L" they are not repeated. There are other letters to represent those numbers, for example, instead of writing LL, which would be 100, the letter C is used.
3. The number zero (0) is not within the Roman numerals. To refer to the number they used the terms nulla, nihil or the letter N.
4. The symbol I can only subtract V and X.
5. The symbol X can only subtract from L and C.
6. The symbol C can only subtract D and M.
7. The only exception to write the letters of the Roman numerals in lowercase is to structure a list of items.

The use of Roman numerals is very scarce, although their learning is important. You will often see them written in the following cases:

• In successions of popes, emperors, princes or monarchs with the same name (Henry VIII of England).
• To name centuries (XNUMXth century).
• To number volumes or chapters of a book or movie (Chapter I).
• To number festivities that are held periodically (IV Hunting Games).
• To name dynasties of some cultures (The XVI Qing dynasty).

Dates in Roman numerals

Writing dates in Roman numerals is really easy. All you have to do is separate the date into sub-groups and convert that to Roman numerals. For example, if we want to convert the date 01-02-2018, or what is the same, February 1th 2018. First we convert the day, 1, which would be I, then we convert the month, 2, which would be II, and finally we convert the year, 2018, which would be MMXVIII.

Then we re-group each of the parts to our traditional format: I-II-MMXVIII. If you have any questions about this process, you can leave us a comment at the end of the article.

How to put Roman numerals in Word?

Many of you have asked us this question and we will try to answer it in the best way. First of all, if you want to write 1 in Roman numerals in Word's word processor, you just have to write the letter I in uppercase. From 1 to 4000 all numbers can be represented with letters that we normally use. If you want to write a bigger number, like 5000, you have to use a vinculum as we have already commented, which we can achieve by following the following steps:

1. First of all we click on Insert -> New equation.
2. Then we look for the Accent option and choose the equation one bar above:
3. Which we will have something like this in our Word document:
4. Finally, inside that square we write whatever we want the vinculum to have. For example, for the number 5002 we would have:

Ready! You already know how to write Roman numerals in Word. On the other hand, if you want a list to use Roman numerals instead of normal numbers, the following option is used:

Anyway, if you have any questions you can leave us a comment below and we will respond as soon as possible.

Drill