MXDC..................M = 1000..................................D = 500........................C = 100................X = 10...............

Roman Numerals

Ancient Romans used a special method of showing numbers

Examples: They wrote V instead of 5
And wrote IX instead of 9

Read on to learn about Roman Numerals or go straight to the Roman Numeral Conversion Tool.

The Roman Symbols

Romans Numerals are based on the following symbols:

1	5	10	50	100	500	1000
I	V	X	L	C	D	M

Basic Combinations

Which can be combined like this:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX
10	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90
X	XX	XXX	XL	L	LX	LXX	LXXX	XC
100	200	300	400	500	600	700	800	900
C	CC	CCC	CD	D	DC	DCC	DCCC	CM

Forming Numbers - The Rules

When a symbol appears after a larger symbol it is added

• Example: VI = V + I = 5 + 1 = 6

But if the symbol appears before a larger symbol it is subtracted

• Example: IX = X - I = 10 - 1 = 9

To Remember: After Larger is Added

Don't use the same symbol more than three times in a row (but IIII is sometimes used for 4, particularly on clocks)

Really Big Numbers

Numbers greater than 1,000 are formed by placing a dash over the symbol, meaning "times 1,000", but these are not commonly used:

5,000	10,000	50,000	100,000	500,000	1,000,000
V	X	L	C	D	M

How to Convert to Roman Numerals

Break the number into Thousands, Hundreds, Tens and Ones, and write down each in turn.

Example: Convert 1984 to Roman Numerals.

Break 1984 into 1000, 900, 80 and 4, then do each conversion

• 1000 = M
• 900 = CM
• 80 = LXXX
• 4 = IV

1000 + 900 + 80 + 4 = 1984, so 1984 = MCMLXXXIV

How To Remember

Think "MeDiCaL XaVIer".
It has the roman numerals in descending order from 1000 to 1.