Roman Numerals: Their Unlikely Survival

What do the following four numerals have in common--110010, 62, 50 and 32?

All four of them can, in various numbering systems, represent the same quantity, which most of us would identify as "50," that is, 5 x 10 plus 0 x 1 in our base-10 numbering system.

If we used a base-8 numbering system, we would express the same number as "62," that is, 6 x 8 plus 2 x 1. In base-16, the number would be "32" or 3 x 16 plus 2 x 1. And, in the binary, or base-2 numbering system on which our computers operate, the same amount is "110010," or - 1 x 32 plus 1 x 16 plus 0 x 8 plus 0 x 4 plus 1 x 4 plus 0 x 1. (Of course, base-2, base-8, and base-16 numbers are important in our communication with our computers.)

To the ancient Romans, however, the number would have been L. Recently, when a friend of mine turned forty, my trusty computer and I developed a greeting card for her with the message, "Have an XL-ent birthday," since XL (subtract 10 from 50, or X from L) is the Roman numeral for 40. But, I paused. How common are Roman numerals these days? Would a modern woman look at "XL" and think about a number... or a clothing size? I decided on a more traditional - or, considering how long Roman numerals have been around, less traditional - greeting.

Roman numerals crop up all over the place even as we are now a few years into the third millennium. Copyright notices, especially for movies, often use Roman numerals for the year. Chapters in books as well as names of popes (John Paul II) and monarchs (Elizabeth II) are usually identified by Roman numerals. Roman numerals are common on analog (old fashioned, not digital) clocks and in inscriptions on buildings. And M&M candies self-proclaimed themselves the candy of the millenium, since MM = 2000.

The Olympic Games also use Roman numerals. In 2012 (MMXII), the modern Olympics will be up to number XXX (thirty). That number includes three games that were never held, VI, XII, and XIII, because of World War I and World War II: another use of Roman numerals.

Roman numerals today are the numbers of pomp and circumstance. You would hardly expect to buy a loaf of bread at a VII-XI store, would you? But, you can still see Roman numerals on graves, government buildings, and monuments.

These numbers look good, but fortunately, we have Arabic numbers, which are much easier to compute with. Arabic numerals are just one of many debts which we owe Arab civilization, including algebra and almanacs (most nouns in English and in Spanish that begin with al- are of Arabic origin).

Don't worry if you cannot remember your Roman numerals. The Internet provides us with the "Roman Numeral And Date Conversion With Roman Calculator" here. You can find another of my articles on Roman numerals here. For now, I have to XXIII skidoo!