When did subtractive notation become common for Roman numerals?
score:11
Romans used both additive and subtractive and this is true from late Etruscan times up to middle ages (1100 Arabic numbers spread into Europe).
Roman numerals were never a stardandized notation system, but a rather simple tally-mark system that got complex on some use-cases. There were variations that depended on context and user (writer). For instance, the notation of large numbers over thousands was crazy varied.
Regarding subtractive/additive, the numerals for 4 and 9 only had two options each, but consider that the numerals for 17, 18, 19 when written had three options each (18= decem et octo, duodeviginti, octodecim). All three options are still used in different Romance languages. So, their use never did stop.
Here is a list of major factors on popularity for each system:
- Large percentage of illiterate people. Many people never wrote the number 50, or 29, ever in their lifetime. This sets the basic context.
- Tally Marks. The use of numerals was mostly as simple, practical tally marks. Did you wrote 5 but you really meant 4? Here you go IV! Are you counting from 1 to 4, here you go IIII.
- We know it was common to mistake III and IIII, also VIII and VIIII when badly written, or written in a poor writting surface (like a brick wall), so that factor probably drove the use of the subtractive system.
- Clash with the mindset of local languages. In the Greek speaking area all subtratives between 20 and 99 were replaced by additives. So use does not really depend on time period, but by region and the other factors.
- Literary use. To stress the point, same writer can use both systems, like "one hundred minus one killed in that battle".
- Space available. Roman Republican calendars use XXIX for 29th, but then, they also use IIII for 4th.
It is true that IIII is the simplest and earliest form to write 4. During early Roman times the additive form is preferred, but we don't know for sure wheter it was exclusive, since you will find IV in quite early republican inscriptions in the CIL.
The theory of "avoiding Jupiter wrath" by not using the abbreviation IV, in my opinion, makes no sense. The ancient and earliest Roman (read: Etruscan) name of Ivpiter was Iovis, so there would be no clash and no God's wrath by writing IV in early Roman times. It just makes no sense. The "simplest tally mark" hypothesis is more valid in my opinion, by Occam's razor argument.
On another topic, the reason that clocks use IIII and not IV might be to avoid confusion with VI when numbers are written aligned along the perimeter (you can write both inwards OR outwards along the perimeter), and not vertically aligned. In fact both clocks with inward and outward Roman numerals exist. Big Ben is inward, most watches are outward. Yet, this is only my personal opinion. I see that IX and XI face same problem.
To learn more about variety in literature use and regions, see: Subtractive Versus Additive Composite Numerals in Antiquity
More post
- 📝 Why did the first Safavid Shia become Shia?
- 📝 In the coat of arms of Georg von Frundsberg, where does the ostrich come from?
- 📝 Why did England and Portugal cheap out on the Battle of Aljubarrota?
- 📝 What gave rise to the widespread popularity of coffee?
- 📝 Did the Central Powers during World War 1 try to sue for peace before the Armistice?
- 📝 What is the basis of the Spanish claim to Gibraltar?
- 📝 Who of the British military had access to the ULTRA messages of the Enigma in September 1944?
- 📝 When were Liu Hui's mathematical works first translated into English?
- 📝 The history of finding longitude
- 📝 Names of articles worn by men of ~11th century European nobility
- 📝 Does anyone know anything about medieval instant pottage?
- 📝 How much of the *Iliad* was confirmed scientifically?
- 📝 What type of defenses did the Pequot use at their fort?
- 📝 Is Josephus a legitimate historical text?
- 📝 Were there any ancient civilisation that functioned without currency or bartering?
- 📝 Yearly population growth rate throughout history
- 📝 US "destroyed" Libya: how viable is this as a reading of the history?
- 📝 Size of Viking armies and raiding parties in 9th-10th centuries?
- 📝 Why did it take over 100 years for Britain to begin seriously colonising America?
- 📝 Did Hitler really support Subhash Chandra Bose's cause and did he do anything to help Bose?
- 📝 How accurate is Karl Heinz Frieser when he said that the blitzkrieg was a myth?
- 📝 What evidence is there that English Political divisions from the 1600s are replicated in American politics today?
- 📝 Where (if anywhere) were X-ray machines put on trains or trolleys to image "Everybody over 14 years old"?
- 📝 Why in English do we say "Tsar of all (the) Russias"?
- 📝 Who was the oldest recorded participant in a battle whom we know of?
- 📝 Symbolism of lion with forked tail
- 📝 What were the policies of the Sammarinese communist party?
- 📝 How did Germany deal with the East German communist Government structure after unification?
- 📝 Are there examples in ancient history of honor killing?
- 📝 Is there any documentation on the creation of Article 1 Section II of the US Constitution?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 When did subtractive notation become common for Roman numerals?
- 📝 When did it become common for optical brighteners to be added to commercial laundry detergent?
- 📝 Did the communication lag become a problem for the ever expanding Roman Empire?
- 📝 When did it become acceptable to campaign for yourself for US President?
- 📝 When did fluorescent lights become common in Europe?
- 📝 When did "skipping" grades become common and when did it stop in USA?
- 📝 When did furniture become common in the homes of most people in the British Isles?
- 📝 When did "JFK" become a recognizable initialism for John F. Kennedy?
- 📝 When did static electricity become a common occurrence?
- 📝 When did the spherical shape of the Earth become common knowledge?
- 📝 When did the concept of compassion for the handicapped become commonly accepted in the USA?
- 📝 When did Silesia become a part of the Holy Roman Empire?
- 📝 Why did Britain not purchase Alaska when Russia had it up for sale?
- 📝 When and how did the USA and the UK become allies?
- 📝 When did the Roman Empire fall according to contemporaries?
- 📝 When and why did having long hair become associated with women, and short hair with men?
- 📝 Did Roman unmarried men have a preferred hand and finger for wearing their seal ring?
- 📝 When did the U.S. Army start saying "oh-six-hundred" for "6 AM"?
- 📝 When did Canada become truly independent?
- 📝 When and where did socks become common?
- 📝 Why did the term "Byzantine Empire" enter common usage instead of "Eastern Roman Empire" or "Roman Empire"
- 📝 When did h*m*sexuality become unacceptable in Europe?
- 📝 When did Americans become safe from highway robbery?
- 📝 When did Kievan Rus' rulers become culturally Slavic?
- 📝 When and how did the Han ethnic group become by far the biggest ethnic group in China?
- 📝 Gender Color Association: When did boys become blue and girls pink?
- 📝 When did the Romans begin using the sword, as opposed to the axe, for decapitation?
- 📝 When did books first become affordable to the general population?
- 📝 When did the acceptance of diversity become such an important social goal in Western countries?
- 📝 When did the Roman Forum fall into disuse?