AH Challenge: Roman Numerals Survive to Present Day

I was just thinking that. o_0 I was imagening a world where people use roman numerals while writing numbers down and doing simple calculations while using arabic numerals in maths and such. This would need a really small educated class, of course.
 
I was just thinking that. o_0 I was imagening a world where people use roman numerals while writing numbers down and doing simple calculations while using arabic numerals in maths and such. This would need a really small educated class, of course.

Yes, it's not very hard to accomplish, considering the ceremonial uses the Western World already has for Roman numerals. They're used in academic outlining of points, labeling major sporting events, and many fancy wall clocks, among other things. What you're suggesting is exactly how Chinese numerals have worked... One elaborate form for writing numbers, and another based on the ancient rod system for computation.
 
Would it be possible to have both the Roman and the Hindu-Arabic systems exist side-by-side for different purposes, as was the case with the Chinese numeric systems?

We're sort of there now, in OTL, although our purposes for Roman numerals are inscribed in very small spaces (clocks, years on monuments and in movie credits, outlines, counting kings and queens)
 
We're sort of there now, in OTL, although our purposes for Roman numerals are inscribed in very small spaces (clocks, years on monuments and in movie credits, outlines, counting kings and queens)

Yes, I also pointed that out in my last post, but that's on such a minuscule scale compared to what I'm imagining.
 
how were these numerals pronounced?
might make a difference...


Ienny viii-vi-vii-v-iii-n-ix or

Ienni dccclxvii-vmiiicix

;)
 

Thande

Donor
OTOH, it is possible that we might use the Arabic/Indian system of counting but substitute the Roman numerals in their place, for some reason. That would probably require the numerals being compressed into distinctive single numbers, e.g. VIII would become a V with three vertical lines through it, so "VIII" would be unambiguously "5,111".
 
OTOH, it is possible that we might use the Arabic/Indian system of counting but substitute the Roman numerals in their place, for some reason. That would probably require the numerals being compressed into distinctive single numbers, e.g. VIII would become a V with three vertical lines through it, so "VIII" would be unambiguously "5,111".

What a great idea! Wish I'd thought of that. :p
 
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