Avatar

The numerals are incorrect. (Fan Creations)

by DaDerga, Baile Átha Cliath, Sunday, May 04, 2014, 14:06 (3854 days ago) @ Beorn

Who knows, maybe the letters on the Titan banner aren't even Roman numerals! Maybe they're someone's initials… With lots of X's and I's… :-\

You are, of course, absolutely correct.

"The "standard" forms described above reflect typical modern usage rather than a universally accepted convention. Usage in ancient Rome varied greatly and remained inconsistent in medieval and modern times."

Roman inscriptions, especially in official contexts, seem to show a preference for additive forms such as IIII and VIIII instead of (or even as well as) subtractive forms such as IV and IX. Both methods appear in documents from the Roman era, even within the same document. "Double subtractives" also occur, such as XIIX or even IIXX instead of XVIII. Sometimes V and L are not used, with instances such as IIIIII and XXXXXX rather than VI or LX." – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_numerals (wiki link for convenience only).

I was always under the impression that the version that we use today was just that and that there was no strict convention throughout the Roman period proper, or later.


Complete thread:

 RSS Feed of thread