Where the system originated
There are several numeral systems in existence today but one of the most outstanding numeral systems among them is Roman Numerals. Other well-known numeral systems are Hindu- Arabic Numeral system and Arabic Numerals (Eugene, Smith, Smith, 1961).
The roman numerals were introduced in ancient Rome. It is unknown that when the first usage of roman numerals began and no one is sure of its actual inventor ere first used, but they were definitely introduced before Middle Ages. Roman numerals are linked to the ancient Etruscans who introduced the Etruscan numerals, which was in turn adapted from the Greek Attic numerals.
The symbol for one in Roman is simply a tally mark , a simplest kind of mark that could be drawn on wood to record things. It can easily be thought that the counting began on the fingers hence A single stroke (tally mark) I represents one finger, five is represented by a hand which looks like V and the 10 is represented by two hands together like X.
How the system works
This number system is based on five characters I , V , X, L,C, D, M with each value of 1 , 5 , 10, 50, 100 and 500 (Keppie, 1991).
Symbol
Arabic numeral equivalent
I
1
II
2
III
3
IV
4
V
5
VI
6
VII
7
VIII
8
IX
9
These are written from left to right and symbols are added one by one to increase the value, for example, MMXXXVVV represent 2045. Additions as well as subtractions are possible with these numerals.
Another example is of CMXIVIV that is equal to 918. It can be seen that the first letter is the largest with the next smaller than the first and so on.
How do operations work in the system?
Roman numeral system is actually an additive system; one just has to add the numerical values of each number to get the sum.
For the subtraction specifically the smaller number is deducted from the large number its result is then added to the total number (Witherington, Witherington, 2009).
How did the civilization benefit from the counting system?
The world started to evolve 5000 years back and during this long period several civilizations rose to prominence, these civilizations left a far reaching impact, one of the greatest power of each of these civilizations is a strong numeral system. Here some of the civilizations are discussed briefly in context with the role played by numeral systems in their development.
Counting system signifies the greatness of a civilization and a well-developed counting system indicates that science flourished in that particular civilization. (Stewart, 2008)
The Babylonians who were known for astronomy had an established numerals system, as they needed the numerical foundations to base their assumptions and compute numbers to find distances between stars (Smith, 2009).
Ancient Romans became a well known civilization and one reason of their prominence is their counting system. Abacus a well known mathematical tool which became the pioneer of today’s computer was invented by them and was a basic tool for computing large numbers. The list of roman inventions is humongous and a lot of these are credited to a well established numerical system , the hydrometer and various great architecture were all result of it.
They developed siege engines, catapults, cataphracts, chainmail (Crane) which all perform well it the numerical computing is done right.
The Muslim civilization benefited greatly by the introduction of the Arabic numerals , the works of Al-Khwarizmi and Al-Kindi lead to major scientific inventions by them including algebra.
Five interesting facts about the counting system and civilization
1. In clocks face IV is represented by IIII, it is partly due to the liking of king of France, Louis XIV.
2. Although very popular, the actual Roman numeral system did not include a zero.
3. The modern numeral system was actually invented in India (c.a. 500), then passed on to Arabs and from there it reached into Europe.
4. The first use of letter “0” to represent zero can only be traced back to 9th century.
5. Babylonians, who have earned great famous for their astrological observations and calculations used the first well known numeral system that was based on place value with a base 60. It is documented that they first used this system in 500 B.C.
References
Eugene, D., Smith, G., Smith, J. (1961). NUMBERS AND NUMERALS. National Council of Teachers
Keppie, L. ( 1991) Understanding Roman Inscriptions. The Johns Hopkins University Press
Smith, D., E. (2009). The Hindu-Arabic Numeral. Bryant Press
Stewart, I. (2008). The Story of Mathematics: From Babylonian Numerals to Chaos Theory. Quercus Books
Witherington, B, III., Witherington, A. (2009). Roman Numerals: The Second Art West Adventure. Pickwick Publications
