Editing Roman numerals (section)

===Other forms===
Forms exist that vary in one way or another from the general standard represented above.

====Other additive forms====
[[File:BadSalzdetfurthBadenburgerStr060529.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|A [[clock face]] with the Roman numerals typical for clocks, in [[Bad Salzdetfurth]], Germany]]

While subtractive notation for 4, 40, and 400 ({{rn|IV}}, {{rn|XL}}, and {{rn|CD}}) has been the usual form since Roman times {{Citation needed|reason=From what I've seen it seems that the additive notation was by far the normal until somewhere around the 18th century, at least for 4.|date=January 2024}}, [[additive notation]] to represent these numbers ({{rn|IIII}}, {{rn|XXXX}}, and {{rn|CCCC}})<ref name="caes0050">{{Cite Wikisource |author=Gaius Iulius Caesar |title=Commentarii de bello Gallico, Book II, Section 4 |wslink=Commentarii de bello Gallico/Liber II |anchor=4 |wslanguage=la}} <br />Book II, Section 4: "{{lang|la|... XV milia Atrebates, Ambianos X milia, Morinos XXV milia, Menapios VII milia, Caletos X milia, Veliocasses et Viromanduos totidem, Atuatucos XVIIII milia; ...}}" <br />Book II, Section 8: "{{lang|la|... ab utroque latere eius collis transversam fossam obduxit circiter passuum CCCC et ad extremas fossas castella constituit...}}" <br />Book IV, Section 15: "{{lang|la|Nostri ad unum omnes incolumes, perpaucis vulneratis, ex tanti belli timore, cum hostium numerus capitum CCCCXXX milium fuisset, se in castra receperunt.}}" <br />Book VII, Section 4: "{{lang|la|...in hiberna remissis ipse se recipit die XXXX Bibracte.}}"</ref> very frequently continued to be used, including in compound numbers like 24 ({{rn|XXIIII}}),<ref name="rocc1612">{{Cite book |last=Rocca |first=Angelo |title=De campanis commentarius |date=1612 |publisher=Guillelmo Faciotti |location=Rome}} [[:File:Campana a XXIIII hominibus pulsata.jpg|Title of a Plate]]: "Campana a XXIIII hominibus pulsata" ("Bell to be sounded by 24 men").</ref><!--Can't find a good internet source for this text from Cicero: <ref name="otle1834">William Young Ottley (1834): ''Aratus astronomical poem (with Ten lines not heretofore known,) with Cicero's latin translation''. Royal Society of Antiquaries, London. 191 pages. Page 158: "De Concordia Solaris Cursus et Lunaris://Novem horis in luna pro quinque diebus in sole computatis, idem luna novem horis tantum itineris peragitur quantum sol in quinque diebus, et ideo unius signi horis iuxta lunarem velocitatem enumeratis, inveniuntur LIIII, quod sunt sexies VIIII. duobus enim ... et sic demum possunt XIIII horae lunares cum quinque diebus solaribus concordare.//Item de eadem ratione://Luna lucere dodrantis semuncias dicitur. duodecim unciae libram faciunt, XXIIII horae diem integrum; totidem enim sunt semunciae in libra plena. quas si diviseris in IV, quarta pars quadrantis nomen sortita est, reliquae III dodrantis; et ideo dixi dodrantis semuncias horarum, id est IIII punctos; "</ref>--> 74 ({{rn|LXXIIII}}),<ref name="borc1673">Gerard Ter Borch (1673): ''[[:File:Cornelis de Graeff (1650-1678).png|Portrait of Cornelis de Graef]]''. Date on painting: "Out. XXIIII Jaer. // M. DC. LXXIIII".</ref> and 490 ({{rn|CCCCLXXXX}}).<ref name=plin2015>{{Cite Wikisource |author=Gaius Plinius Secundus |title=Naturalis Historia, Book III |wslink=Naturalis Historia/Liber III |anchor=IV |wslanguage=la}} Book III: "{{lang|la|Saturni vocatur, Caesaream Mauretaniae urbem {{overline|CCLXXXXVII}} p[assum]. traiectus. reliqua in ora flumen Tader ... ortus in Cantabris haut procul oppido Iuliobrica, per {{overline|CCCCL}} p. fluens ...}}" <br />Book IV: "{{lang|la|Epiri, Achaiae, Atticae, Thessalia in porrectum longitudo CCCCLXXXX traditur, latitudo CCLXXXXVII.}}" <br />Book VI: "{{lang|la|tam vicinum Arsaniae fluere eum in regione Arrhene Claudius Caesar auctor est, ut, cum intumuere, confluant nec tamen misceantur leviorque Arsanias innatet MMMM ferme spatio, mox divisus in Euphraten mergatur.}}"</ref> The additive forms for 9, 90, and 900 ({{rn|VIIII}},<ref name=caes0050/> {{rn|LXXXX}},<ref name="benn1731">{{Cite book |last=Bennet |first=Thomas |title=Grammatica Hebræa, cum uberrima praxi in usum tironum ... Editio tertia |date=1731 |publisher=T. Astley |page=24}} Copy in the British Library; 149 pages. <br />Page 24: "{{lang|la|PRÆFIXA duo sunt}} ''viz.'' ''He'' {{lang|la|emphaticum vel relativum (de quo Cap VI Reg. LXXXX.) &}} ''Shin'' {{lang|la|cum}} ''Segal'' {{lang|la|sequente}} ''Dagesh'', {{lang|la|quod denotat pronomen relativum...}}"</ref> and {{rn|DCCCC}}<ref name="mira1486">{{Cite book |last=Della Mirandola |first=Pico |url=http://www.esotericarchives.com/pico/conclus.htm |title=Conclusiones sive Theses DCCCC |date=1486 |language=la |trans-title=Conclusions, or 900 Theses}}</ref>) have also been used, although less often.

The two conventions could be mixed in the same document or inscription, even in the same numeral. For example, on the numbered gates to the [[Colosseum]], {{rn|IIII}} is systematically used instead of {{rn|IV}}, but subtractive notation is used for {{rn|XL}}; consequently, gate 44 is labelled {{rn|XLIIII}}.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 January 2011 |title=360:12 tables, 24 chairs, and plenty of chalk |url=https://threesixty360.wordpress.com/2011/01/01/roman-numerals-not-quite-so-simple/ |website=Roman Numerals...not quite so simple}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=13 November 2021 |title=Paul Lewis |url=http://www.web40571.clarahost.co.uk/roman/howtheywork.htm |website=Roman Numerals...How they work}}</ref>

Especially on tombstones and other funerary inscriptions, 5 and 50 have been occasionally written {{rn|IIIII}} and {{rn|XXXXX}} instead of {{rn|V}} and {{rn|L}}, and there are instances such as {{rn|IIIIII}} and {{rn|XXXXXX}} rather than {{rn|VI}} or {{rn|LX}}.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=numbers, Roman |encyclopedia=[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726 |date=1996 |editor-last=Hornblower |editor-first=Simon |edition=3rd |isbn=0-19-866172-X |last2=Spawforth |first2=Anthony J. S. |first1=Joyce Maire |last1=Reynolds |editor2-first=Anthony |editor2-last=Spawforth |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Benjamin Hall |title=The Revised Latin Primer |date=1923 |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co. |location=London}}</ref>

Modern [[clock face]]s that use Roman numerals still very often use {{rn|IIII}} for four o'clock but {{rn|IX}} for nine o'clock, a practice that goes back to very early clocks such as the [[Wells Cathedral clock]] of the late 14th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Milham |first=W.I. |title=Time & Timekeepers |date=1947 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |page=196}}</ref><ref name="pickover">{{Cite book |last=Pickover |first=Clifford A. |url={{google books|id = 52N0JJBspM0C|page = 282|plainurl = yes }} |title=Wonders of Numbers: Adventures in Mathematics, Mind, and Meaning |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-534800-2 |page=282 |author-link=Clifford A. Pickover}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Adams |first1=Cecil |url=https://archive.org/details/moreofstraightdo00adam/page/154 |title=More of the straight dope |last2=Zotti |first2=Ed |date=1988 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0-345-35145-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/moreofstraightdo00adam/page/154 154]}}</ref> However, this is far from universal: for example, the clock on the [[Palace of Westminster]] tower (commonly known as [[Big Ben]]) uses a subtractive {{rn|IV}} for 4 o'clock.<ref name="pickover" />{{efn|[[Isaac Asimov]] once mentioned an "interesting theory" that Romans avoided using {{rn|IV}} because it was the initial letters of {{lang|la|IVPITER}}, the Latin spelling of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], and might have seemed [[Piety|impious]].<ref name="asimov on numbers 12">{{Cite book |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |url=http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/asimov-on-numbers.pdf |title=Asimov on Numbers |date=1966 |publisher=Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc |page=12}}</ref> He did not say whose theory it was.}}

[[File:AdmiraltyArchLondonCloseup.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The year number on [[Admiralty Arch]], London. The year 1910 is rendered as {{rn|MDCCCCX}}, rather than the more usual {{rn|MCMX}}|alt=]]

Several monumental inscriptions created in the early 20th century use variant forms for "1900" (usually written {{rn|MCM}}). These vary from {{rn|MDCCCCX}} for 1910 as seen on [[Admiralty Arch]], London, to the more unusual, if not unique {{rn|MDCDIII}} for 1903, on the north entrance to the [[Saint Louis Art Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gallery: Museum's North Entrance (1910) |url=http://www.slam.org/century_of_free/gallery.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204081437/http://slam.org:80/century_of_free/gallery.php |archive-date=4 December 2010 |access-date=10 January 2014 |publisher=Saint Louis Art Museum |quote=The inscription over the North Entrance to the Museum reads: "Dedicated to Art and Free to All MDCDIII." These roman numerals translate to 1903, indicating that the engraving was part of the original building designed for the 1904 World's Fair.}}</ref>

[[File:Epitaph des Marcus Caelius.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|left|Epitaph of [[centurion]] Marcus Caelius, showing "{{rn|XIIX}}"]]

====Other subtractive forms====
There are numerous historical examples of {{rn|IIX}} being used for 8; for example, {{rn|XIIX}} was used by officers of the [[Legio XVIII|XVIII Roman Legion]] to write their number.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Lesley |title=Handbook to life in ancient Rome |last2=Adkins |first2=Roy A |date=2004 |isbn=0-8160-5026-0 |edition=2 |page=270|publisher=Facts On File }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Boyne |first=William |title=A manual of Roman coins |date=1968 |page=13}}</ref> The notation appears prominently on the [[cenotaph]] of their senior [[centurion]] [[Marcus Caelius]] ({{circa|45 BC|lk=no}} – 9 AD). On the publicly displayed official Roman calendars known as [[Fasti]], {{rn|XIIX}} is used for the 18 days to the next [[Calends|Kalends]], and {{rn|XXIIX}} for the 28 days in February. The latter can be seen on the sole extant pre-Julian calendar, the [[Fasti Antiates Maiores]].<ref name="Degrassi">{{Cite book |title=Inscriptiones Italiae |date=1963 |publisher=Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato |editor-last=Degrassi |editor-first=Atilius |editor-link=Attilio Degrassi |volume=13: Fasti et Elogia |location=Rome |at=Fasciculus 2: Fasti anni Numani et Iuliani}}</ref>
There are historical examples of other subtractive forms: {{rn|IIIXX}} for 17,<ref name="lvnd1621">{{Cite book |last=Lundorphio |first=Michaele Gaspar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C41mAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA123 |title=Acta publica inter invictissimos gloriosissimosque&c. ... et Ferdinandum II. Romanorum Imperatores... |date=1621 |publisher=Ian-Friderici Weissii |page=123 |language=la}} <br />Page 123: "{{lang|la|Sub Dato Pragæ IIIXX Decemb. A. C. M. DC. IIXX}}". <br />Page 126, end of the same document: "{{lang|la|Dabantur Pragæ 17 Decemb. M. DC. IIXX}}".</ref> {{rn|IIXX}} for 18,<ref name="sulp1692">{{Cite book |last=Sulpicius à Munscrod |first=Raphael |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_N43WFqB1wtoC/page/n69 |title=Vera Ac Germana Detecto Clandestinarvm Deliberationvm |date=1621 |page=16 |language=la}} <br />Page 16, line 1: "{{lang|la|repertum Originale Subdatum IIIXXX Aug. A. C. MDC.IIXX}}". <br />Page 41, upper right corner: "{{lang|la|Decemb. A. C. MDC.IIXX}}". Page 42, upper left corner: "{{lang|la|Febr. A. C. MDC.XIX}}". Page 70: "{{lang|la|IIXX. die Maij sequentia in consilio noua ex Bohemia allata....}}". <br />Page 71: "{{lang|la|XIX. Maij}}.</ref> {{rn|IIIC}} for 97,<ref name="tent1699">{{Cite book |last=Tentzel |first=Wilhelm Ernst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VN9lAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA39 |title=Als Ihre Königl. Majestät in Pohlen und ... |date=1699 |page=39 |language=de}} <br />Page 39: "{{lang|de|... und der Umschrifft: LITHUANIA ASSERTA M. DC. IIIC [1699].}}"</ref> {{rn|IIC}} for 98,<ref name="posn1698">{{Cite book |last=Posner |first=Johann Caspar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmtOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP9 |title=Mvndvs ante mvndvm sive De Chao Orbis Primordio |date=1698 |language=la}} <br />Title page: "{{lang|la|Ad diem jvlii A. O. R. M DC IIC}}".</ref><ref name="tent1700">{{Cite book |last=Tentzel |first=Wilhelm Ernst |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qFVPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA93 |title=Saxonia Nvmismatica: Das ist: Die Historie Des Durchlauchtigsten... |date=1700 |page=26 |language=de}} <br />Page 26: "{{lang|de|Die Revers hat eine feine Inscription}}: {{lang|la|SERENISSIMO DN.DN... SENATUS.QVERNF. A. M DC IIC D. 18 OCT [year 1698 day 18 oct].}}"</ref> and {{rn|IC}} for 99.<ref name="picc1699">{{Cite book |last=Piccolomini |first=Enea Silvio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RNXAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1 |title=Opera Geographica et Historica |date=1698 |publisher=J. M. Sustermann |edition=1st |location=Helmstadt |language=la |author-link=Pope Pius II}} Title page of first edition: "{{lang|la|Bibliopolæ ibid. M DC IC}}".</ref> A possible explanation is that the word for 18 in Latin is {{lang|la|duodeviginti}}{{px2}}{{mdash}}{{tsp}}literally "two from twenty"⁠{{mdash}}{{tsp}}while 98 is {{lang|la|duodecentum}} (two from hundred) and 99 is {{lang|la|undecentum}} (one from hundred).<ref name="kenn1879">{{Cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Benjamin H. |url=https://archive.org/details/publiclatin00kennrich |title=Latin grammar |date=1879 |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |isbn=9781177808293 |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/publiclatin00kennrich/page/150 150]}}</ref> However, the explanation does not seem to apply to {{rn|IIIXX}} and {{rn|IIIC}}, since the Latin words for 17 and 97 were {{lang|la|septendecim}} (seven ten) and {{lang|la|nonaginta septem}} (ninety seven), respectively.

The {{code|ROMAN()}} function in [[Microsoft Excel]] supports multiple subtraction modes depending on the "{{tt|Form}}" setting. For example, the number "499" (usually {{rn|CDXCIX}}) can be rendered as {{rn|LDVLIV}}, {{rn|XDIX}}, {{rn|VDIV}} or {{rn|ID}}. The relevant Microsoft help page offers no explanation for this function other than to describe its output as "more concise".<ref>{{Cite web |title=ROMAN function |url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/roman-function-d6b0b99e-de46-4704-a518-b45a0f8b56f5 |website=Microsoft Support}}</ref>

====Non-standard variants====

[[File:Padlock,_Athlone.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Padlock used on the north [[City gate|gate]] of the Irish town of [[Athlone]]. "1613" in the date is rendered {{rn|XVIXIII}}, (literally "16, 13") instead of {{rn|MDCXIII}}.]]
[[File:Excerpt from BnF ms. 1433 fr., fol. 24r.png|thumb|upright=1.1|Excerpt from [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b105096493 |via=Gallica |title=L' Atre périlleux et Yvain, le chevalier au lion . |date=1301–1350 |language=EN}}</ref> The Roman numeral for 500 is rendered as {{Rn|{{Overset|C|V}}}}, instead of {{Rn|D}}.]]
There are also historical examples of other additive and multiplicative forms, and forms which seem to reflect spoken phrases. Some of these variants may have been regarded as errors even by contemporaries.

* {{rn|IIXX}} was how people associated with the [[Legio XXII Deiotariana|XXII Roman Legion]] used to write their number. The practice may have been due to a common way to say "twenty-second" in Latin, namely {{lang|la|duo et vice(n)sima}} (literally "two and twentieth") rather than the "regular" {{lang|la|vice(n)sima secunda}} (twenty second).<ref name="malo2005">{{Cite thesis |last=Malone |first=Stephen James |title=Legio XX Valeria Victrix: A Prosographical and Historical Study |date=Aug 2005 |publisher=University of Nottingham |url=http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/13316/2/423645_vol2.pdf |volume=2}} <br />On page 396 it discusses many coins with "Leg. IIXX" and notes that it must be Legion 22. <br />The footnote on that page says: "The form IIXX clearly reflecting the Latin {{lang|la|duo et vicensima}} 'twenty-second': cf. X5398, {{lang|la|legatus I[eg II] I et vicensim(ae) Pri[mi]g}}; VI 1551, {{lang|la|legatus leg] IIXX Prj}}; III 14207.7, {{lang|la|miles leg IIXX}}; and III 10471-3, a vexillation drawn from four German legions including 'XVIII PR' – surely here the stonecutter's hypercorrection for IIXX PR.</ref> Apparently, at least one ancient [[stonecutter]] mistakenly thought that the {{rn|IIXX}} of "22nd Legion" stood for 18, and "corrected" it to {{rn|XVIII}}.<ref name=malo2005/>

* Other numerals that do not fit the usual patterns – such as {{rn|VXL}} for 45, instead of the usual {{rn|XLV}} — may be due to scribal errors, or the writer's lack of familiarity with the system, rather than being genuine variant usage.

====Non-numeric combinations====
As Roman numerals are composed of ordinary alphabetic characters, there may sometimes be confusion with other uses of the same letters. For example, "[[XXX (disambiguation)|XXX]]" and "[[XL (disambiguation)|XL]]" have other connotations in addition to their values as Roman numerals, while "[[IXL (disambiguation)|IXL]]" more often than not is a [[gramogram]] of "I excel", and is in any case not an unambiguous Roman numeral.<ref name="ixl-story">{{Cite web |title=Our Brand Story |url=http://spcardmona.com.au/healthy-brands/ixl/our-brand-story |access-date=2014-03-11 |publisher=SPC Ardmona}}</ref>