Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!seismo!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: sl87m@cc.usu.edu (The Barking Pumpkin Digital Gratification Ensemble) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: 666's and Beasties everywhere. Message-ID: Date: 5 May 91 03:48:20 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Utah State University Lines: 18 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu [Kenneth Dean Hunsaker summarized some analyses of 666. In one of them he listed the letters used by the Romans as numbers, showing that they added to 666. In doing this, M was disregarded because its use for 1000 is of modern origin. --clh] Oops. M is *not* of modern origin. In my studies of documents in the C.E. (main emphasis in the Middle Ages) I've found documents as early as 4th century that use "M" for 1,000. What is a post-Mediaeval development is the use of "M" in numbers other than 1,000. i.e. _ __ ___ __ M _or_ I = 1,000 II = 2,000 III = 3,000 IV = 4,000 etc. The use was not extensive, but nevertheless it was used. I'm not sure how early its use is, but it was used very early. TZM