the I, V and X. is it coz of the stone they chisseled into and could only chisel in straight lines? what a bout the serifs on them? is it to make the line cut neater?
2006-11-26 01:43:53 · 12 answers · asked by allgiggles1984 6 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
They didnt just have 3.
The was L = 50
C = 100
D=500
M=1000
A lot of them were based on the words like 100 - centum the latin word for 100
as above if you look on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals#Origins
you can find a full explanation of origins
2006-11-26 01:48:46 · answer #1 · answered by mintycakeyfroggy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As others have said, they used more than 3 symbols, but I suspect you're wondering why they didn't come up with a system such as ours, which is based on the number of fingers we have. The Romans were good at many things, but Mathematics wasn't one of them. That makes their achievements in architecture, city planning, and even the logistics of deploying and maintaining an army even more impressive. All of them involve a good deal of math, and even simple arithmetic with Roman numbers isn't easy. If the Romans had discovered better numeral systems, who knows how much more they could have accomplished?
It's important to remember that even our decimal system has limitations, which is why we use a different system (binary) for computer calculations. The decimal system isn't able to easily fit into the digital world.
2006-11-26 02:06:24 · answer #2 · answered by nospamcwt 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Romans didn't use only 3 symbols. In addiction to I, V and X, there were L (50), C (100), D (500) and M (1000). I don't know the reason for they use so few symbols: probably they hadn't better ideas on how to indicate numbers...
2006-11-26 01:50:50 · answer #3 · answered by Gongolina 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They also used L, C, D and M. See the Wikipedia entry on Roman numerals for a full explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals
2006-11-26 01:48:45 · answer #4 · answered by JET 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are forgetting L=50, C=100, M=1,000 so I suspect it was not to do with cutting in straight lines.
2006-11-26 01:49:46 · answer #5 · answered by ♣ My Brainhurts ♣ 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they had a collection of letters that were used to signify numbers, based on the language that they used which was latin, using v in a word like buildings, didnt come til much later and paid homage to the roman builders , bvilding, is only a part ly correct answer, LF
2006-11-26 01:54:52 · answer #6 · answered by lefang 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They used more than that... they also used M, C and L which represent 1000, 100 and 50 respectively.
2006-11-26 01:53:07 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is not just 3 symbols..
I - 1
V - 5
X - 10
L - 50
C - 100
D - 500
M - 1000
And then you put a bar over the letter to indicate multiplication by 1,000
_
V for five thousand
_
X for ten thousand
_
L for fifty thousand
_
C for one hundred thousand
_
D for five hundred thousand
_
M for one million
A double bar OR an underline means multiply by 1 million.
=
X for 10 million
and so on
2006-11-26 01:58:44 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
As others have already said, they used more than 3.
I, V, X, L, C, D, M
2006-11-26 08:01:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
M's were also used. Maybe you should study the Romans a little more. I am by no means a studied person on the subject, but even I know that.
2006-11-26 02:01:59 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋