Or is it just non standard to go beyond that large of a number?
In: Mathematics
Roman numerals were composed using the following symbols:
* I = 1
* V = 5
* X = 10
* L = 50
* C = 100
* D = 500
* M = 1,000
As you probably know to denote values other than those you combined them. II for two, XXVIII for twenty eight, etc.
In order to denote larger numbers there was a mark known as a vinculum which was a solid line written above a number which indicated you should multiple it by 1000. So to get 1 million (1,000 * 1,000) you would write M̅ (M with a line above it). M̅M̅M̅ (imagine the line is solid and connected) would be 3 million. (MMM being 3,000).
3,999 = MMMCMXCIX
3,999,000 = M̅M̅M̅C̅M̅X̅C̅IX̅
999 = CMXCIX
3,999,999 = M̅M̅M̅C̅M̅X̅C̅IX̅CMXCIX
So that’s the limit right? Well technically no, there was another notation, called box vinculum which would be written as a 3 sided box over the number to be multiplied by 100,000. That means you could write |M̅| to mean 1,000 * 100,000 or 100,000,000. And thus |M̅M̅M̅C̅M̅X̅C̅IX̅| would be 399,900,000 so 399,999,999 would be the largest number you could write using the notation system. |M̅M̅M̅C̅M̅X̅C̅IX̅|X̅C̅IX̅CMXCIX
Latest Answers