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Roman Numerals Chart

Roman numerals chart shows how letters are used in place of numbers. Numbers are formed by stringing numerals together to add up to the number required. Thankfully the Romans did not have a telephone system. Phone numbers perfectly illustrate a major weakness Roman numerals had compared to Arabic numbers such as the need to represent the number zero as in: 0800, 0845, and 0870 phone numbers. Telephone numbers too are not mean to be added or subtracted, which is a trait of numerals . Our list page matches arabic and Roman numbers together up to 2016.

For more on the history of Roman numerals Paul Lewis gives a detailed account and explains how in ancient Rome dates were written. Download the chart below as a printable image (12kb), or for teaching or testing.

Principles of Roman numerals

1. Write numerals left to right, with the largest numeral first.
2. The largest numeral possible is used at each stage.
3. No more than three instances of same adjacent numeral. Occasionally number 4 is written not as IV but as IIII to add symmetry and balance to a watch or clock face.
4. A smaller numeral such as I or X placed before a larger one has the effect of minus - thus IV is one less then five, or four. This is called the subtraction principle and only one numeral can be placed to the left. The small numeral must be a power of ten: I, X or C; (1, 10 or 100).