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From: ken@ihuxq.UUCP (ken perlow)
Newsgroups: net.math
Subject: Rules for Roman Numerals?
Message-ID: <465@ihuxq.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 6-Jan-84 10:15:45 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxq.465
Posted: Fri Jan  6 10:15:45 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Jan-84 02:35:36 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 21

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Does anyone know any definitive rules for computing Roman
numeral values for numbers?  There was a style which did not
use any subtraction feature. (14 = XIIII, 1900 = MDCCCC, etc.)
This is not interesting. Furthermore, the subtraction feature
(14 = XIV, 9 = IX, 40 = XL, etc.) seems to be in common use
today, if not back then, especially in writing dates, so that
1900 = MCM.  How general is this feature?  Is 1999 = MIM?
1995 = MVM?  Does 1994 = MXMIV or MCMXCIV or MCMLXLIV or what?
This also brings up the ancillary question:  Is there a definitive,
exhaustive character set?  There is certainly a wealth of
iconographic evidence for the set R = {I,V,X,L,C,D,M}.
M-with-a-bar-over-it (= 1 Million) seems to be widely used today,
though I suspect it is of more recent origin.  Are there others?
-- 
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