Roman Numerals

Roman numerals write numbers with seven letters: I is 1, V is 5, X is 10, L is 50, C is 100, D is 500 and M is 1,000. You add the values from left to right, and a smaller letter right before a bigger one is subtracted: VI is 6, but IV is 4. So 4 in Roman numerals is IV, 50 is L, 100 is C, and the year 2026 is MMXXVI.

This page shows how to read and write Roman numerals, which are also called Roman numbers or Roman figures. You get the symbols and rules, a chart from 1 to 100, the tens and hundreds, numbers up to 3,999, years and dates, common mistakes and practice problems with answers. To check your own numbers, use the Roman numeral converter (interface in German). Printable worksheets with answer sheets are on the worksheet page (also in German).

The seven symbols and the rules

Every Roman numeral is built from just seven letters. Each symbol has the same value wherever it stands. Our digits work differently: the 5 in 5 and in 50 means something else. The values of the symbols grow by multiplying alternately by 5 and by 2: 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000.

Rule 1: equal or smaller symbols after a symbol are added

Write the symbols from largest to smallest and add their values. III is 1 + 1 + 1 = 3, XX is 10 + 10 = 20 and VII is 5 + 1 + 1 = 7. Long numbers work the same way: XVI = 10 + 5 + 1 = 16 and MDCLXVI = 1,000 + 500 + 100 + 50 + 10 + 5 + 1 = 1,666.

Rule 2: a smaller symbol before a larger one is subtracted

When a smaller symbol stands directly before a larger one, you subtract it. That saves symbols: instead of IIII you write IV, which is 5 − 1 = 4. There are exactly six such pairs.

The pairs follow a pattern: only I can stand before V and X, only X before L and C, and only C before D and M. Only one symbol is subtracted at a time. V, L and D are never subtracted, which is why there is no VX, no IL and no IC.

Rule 3: no more than three of the same symbol in a row

Three of a kind are fine: III = 3, XXX = 30, CCC = 300 and MMM = 3,000. For four, use the subtraction rule: write IV instead of IIII and XL instead of XXXX. V, L and D are never doubled, because VV would be X, LL would be C and DD would be M.

Roman numerals 1 to 100: the chart

The chart lists every Roman numeral from 1 to 100 in five blocks of 20 numbers. In each row, the number on the right is exactly 10 more than the one on the left. The numbers 1 to 10 are I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X. After that you put the ones behind the X: XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX. The button under the heading prints the charts.

Roman numerals 1 to 20

Roman numerals 21 to 40

Roman numerals 41 to 60

Roman numerals 61 to 80

Roman numerals 81 to 100

What stands out in the chart

• The ones repeat in every row of tens. Every number ending in 3 ends in III: III, XIII, XXIII, XXXIII and so on.
• The 4 and the 9 need subtraction: IV, XIV, XXIV, XXXIV and IX, XIX, XXIX, XXXIX.
• The tens are X, XX, XXX, XL, L, LX, LXX, LXXX, XC and C. Subtraction shows up at 40 and 90.
• The numbers 49 and 99 look tricky but follow the rules: 49 = XL + IX = XLIX and 99 = XC + IX = XCIX.

Tens and hundreds: 10 to 1,000

Learn the round numbers by heart, because you build all other numbers from them. The good news: you only have to learn the ones, I to IX. The tens and hundreds use the same pattern with different letters.

Each row shows the same pattern twice: the number on the right is ten times the number on the left, and its Roman numeral uses the next set of letters. So X becomes C, L becomes D, XC becomes CM and C becomes M.

How to convert Roman numerals: both directions

From a number to Roman numerals

Go place by place. Split the number into thousands, hundreds, tens and ones, write the matching piece from the table for each part, and put the pieces together from left to right.

Here is how to read the table: in the row for 4, the tens column holds XL for 40 and the hundreds column holds CD for 400. The thousands column has only three pieces, M, MM and MMM, because more than three of the same symbol in a row is not allowed. If a place holds a zero, simply skip it. There is no Roman zero (more on that below).

1. Split the number into its places.
2. Find the piece for each part in the table.
3. Write the pieces one after another, from left to right.

From Roman numerals to a number

Read from left to right. First look for pairs where a smaller symbol stands before a larger one (IV, IX, XL, XC, CD, CM) and work them out. Count the remaining symbols one by one. At the end, add all the parts.

For big numbers, or to double-check, use the Roman numeral converter (interface in German). It also shows the breakdown step by step.

Roman numerals 1 to 1,000 and up to 3,999

Up to 999 you do not need the M at all, and 1,000 itself is a single M. With the seven symbols you can reach 3,999: the largest number is MMMCMXCIX, which is 3,000 + 900 + 90 + 9. For 4,000 you would need MMMM, four of the same symbol in a row, and that is not allowed. How it goes on is explained under large numbers.

A list of all 1,000 numbers would be long and mostly repetitive, and you do not need one. The chart above covers 1 to 100, the table of tens and hundreds covers the round numbers, and the table below adds every step of 50. With these you can build any number from 1 to 1,000.

Years and dates in Roman numerals

Write a year like any other number, just without a comma. Remember the beginnings: the years 1900 to 1999 start with MCM and the years 2000 to 2099 start with MM. The last two digits follow. So 1990 becomes MCM + XC = MCMXC, and 2026 becomes MM + XXVI = MMXXVI. The year 2027 is MMXXVII.

Dates in Roman numerals: which order?

Write a date in three parts, each as its own numeral: day, month and year. The months run from I (January) to XII (December), and the days go up to XXXI. The parts are usually separated by dots. On rings and engravings, slashes, hyphens or middle dots are just as common, so pick one style and keep it.

The order depends on where you live. In the United States the month comes first, in most other countries the day does. That is why 3/11/2026 means March 11 in the US but November 3 in the UK. Decide which order you mean before you convert.

Where Roman numerals are still used

• Monarchs and popes: Henry VIII, Elizabeth II, Charles III and Pope Leo XIV. You say these as ordinals: “Henry the Eighth,” “Elizabeth the Second.”
• Chapters, volumes and outlines: Chapter IV, Volume II, Act III. These are read as plain numbers: “chapter four.”
• Clocks and watches: many dials use Roman numerals, often with IIII for 4.
• Years on buildings, monuments and cornerstones.
• Film and TV credits: the copyright year is often a Roman numeral. A film from 1999 shows MCMXCIX.
• Sports and events: the Super Bowl is counted in Roman numerals. Super Bowl LX was played in 2026, and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris were the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.

Common mistakes with Roman numerals

Most mistakes happen with subtraction. If you remember the six allowed pairs, you avoid almost all of them. These wrong spellings are the most common:

Large numbers: 4,000 and more

For 4,000 and above, writers used a bar over the symbols, which multiplies the value by 1,000. With a bar, V stands for 5,000, X for 10,000 and M for one million. This was never standardized, and in school you rarely need it. If you do, the converter (interface in German) handles numbers with a bar up to 3,999,999.

Is there a zero in Roman numerals?

No. Roman numerals have no symbol for zero, so “0 in Roman numerals” has no standard answer. The Romans did not need one: their symbols always keep the same value, so there is no empty place that a zero would have to hold. In early medieval tables, scholars sometimes wrote the Latin word nulla (“none”) or the letter N where a zero belonged. That was a word, not a numeral. Zero as a number reached Europe from India by way of the Arab world.

Typing Roman numerals on a computer, phone or in Excel

You do not need a special font. Type Roman numerals with the ordinary capital letters I, V, X, L, C, D and M, on any device. Unicode has dedicated Roman numeral characters, but plain letters work everywhere and are the better choice for most purposes. To copy and paste a numeral, just copy the letters.

In Excel and Google Sheets, ROMAN and ARABIC do the conversion for you: =ROMAN(2026) returns MMXXVI, and =ARABIC("MMXXVI") returns 2026. In Excel, ROMAN accepts numbers up to 3,999.

Where do Roman numerals come from?

The Romans did not invent their numerals from scratch. They took over a system that the Etruscans, their neighbors in central Italy, also used. According to the usual explanation, I, V and X go back to tally marks, the notches people had cut for counting long before. The symbols for 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 looked different at first. Over time they came to resemble the letters L, C, D and M. The D, for example, began as half of an older symbol for 1,000.

In Europe, Roman numerals stayed in everyday use for centuries, but they are awkward for written arithmetic. Hindu-Arabic digits, with their place values and the zero, gradually took over calculation in the late Middle Ages. Leonardo Fibonacci’s Liber abaci (1202) helped to spread them. More about how the Romans calculated: Römische Mathematik (in German).

Practice problems with answers

Work the problems out on your own first, then open the answers. For more practice, the worksheet page (interface in German) creates new Roman numeral problems with an answer sheet every time.

Frequently asked questions

What are Roman numerals?

Roman numerals, also called Roman numbers or Roman figures, write numbers with the seven symbols I, V, X, L, C, D and M. Values are added or, when a smaller symbol comes first, subtracted: XIV is 10 + (5 − 1) = 14.

What are the Roman numerals from 1 to 10?

I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X. The numbers from 1 to 20 continue with XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX. The full chart up to 100 is above.

How do you write 4 in Roman numerals?

The standard way is IV (5 − 1). You will also see IIII, especially on clock faces, and the Romans often wrote it that way.

What is 50 in Roman numerals?

50 is L. The other round numbers are 5 = V, 10 = X, 100 = C, 500 = D and 1,000 = M. Combined, 60 is LX and 90 is XC. All tens and hundreds are in the table above.

How do you write 2026 and 2027 in Roman numerals?

2026 is MMXXVI and 2027 is MMXXVII. MM stands for 2,000, XX for 20, and VI or VII for 6 or 7.

What is the Roman numeral for zero?

There is none. The Romans had no symbol for zero because their symbols have fixed values and no place value. Medieval scholars sometimes wrote nulla (“none”) instead. See the section on zero.

What is the largest Roman numeral?

With the seven symbols it is 3,999 = MMMCMXCIX. For larger numbers a bar over the symbols multiplies their value by 1,000, but this was never standardized.

How do you write a date in Roman numerals?

Write day, month and year separately and separate them with dots. November 3, 2026 is XI.III.MMXXVI in US order (month first) and III.XI.MMXXVI day-first. Details are in the section on dates.

How do you convert Roman numerals to numbers?

Read from left to right. Work out the pairs with a smaller symbol in front (IV, IX, XL, XC, CD, CM), count the other symbols one by one and add everything. For example, MCMXCIV is 1,000 + 900 + 90 + 4 = 1,994.

Is there a Roman numeral converter?

Yes. The Roman numeral converter on this site works in both directions and shows each step. Its interface is in German, but you only type numbers and Roman numerals.

Sources and further reading

• Wikipedia: Roman numerals
• Georges Ifrah: The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer, Wiley, New York 2000.
• Karl Menninger: Number Words and Number Symbols: A Cultural History of Numbers, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA 1969.
• Microsoft Support: ROMAN function

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