How did Romans do (advanced) math using Roman numerals?
In: 590
They didn’t do calculations using Roman numerals.
Instead, they used calculus.
No, not the Newton-Leibniz one.
A *calculus* is a little *calx*; that is, a small piece of limestone — a pebble.
Calculi, pebbles, were used on counting-boards, with techniques similar to the later abacus.
The word “calculation” comes from the calculi that were used to do it.
We still use rocks to do our arithmetic today, but these days we use silicon instead of limestone.
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