Mathematics in Ancient and Medieval India c5.s6.19

c5.s6.19

(e) *Romans* : The Roman numbers were expressed in terms of symbols for one, five, ten, fifty, hundred, five hundreds, and thousand. The normal mode of writing was to put the greater elements in the beginning. For example, the number 1548 was written as MCCCCCXXXXVIII i.e. 1000+500+40+8. In certain cases, it was reversed to denote subtraction. But on a longer view, i.e. in a compound number of still greater value, it will be found that the normal mode has been preserved on the whole. The system had the advantage of using only few symbols for expressing any number in a very simple way. This is the reason why it received a considerable popularity and is still adopted occasionally in numbering the chapter and year of books.