All About Numbers
Roman Numerals 1–1000
Using the symbols and rules from the last two pages together, any whole number from 1 up to 3,999 can be written as a Roman numeral without needing a single extra symbol. Within the range 1–1000 covered on this page, the largest value you’ll ever need is M itself.
Beyond 3,999, the standard letters run out of road — writing 4,000 would otherwise need four M’s in a row, which breaks the “no more than three repeats” rule. The Romans solved this with a vinculum: a horizontal bar drawn over a numeral that multiplied its value by 1,000, so V meant 5,000 and X meant 10,000. You won’t need it for anything on this page, but it explains how the Romans handled genuinely huge numbers.
The Master Building-Block Table
Every Roman numeral from 1 to 3,999 is really just four smaller pieces — a thousands piece, a hundreds piece, a tens piece and a ones piece — stuck together. Once you know these four rows, you can build (or read) any number in the range:
| Place | ×1 | ×2 | ×3 | ×4 | ×5 | ×6 | ×7 | ×8 | ×9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ones | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX |
| Tens | X | XX | XXX | XL | L | LX | LXX | LXXX | XC |
| Hundreds | C | CC | CCC | CD | D | DC | DCC | DCCC | CM |
| Thousands | M | MM | MMM | (needs a vinculum beyond this) | |||||
Round Hundreds, 100 to 1000
| Number | Numeral | Number | Numeral |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | C | 600 | DC |
| 200 | CC | 700 | DCC |
| 300 | CCC | 800 | DCCC |
| 400 | CD | 900 | CM |
| 500 | D | 1000 | M |
Step by Step: Converting a Bigger Number
The place-value method scales up perfectly well beyond two digits — you just have more parts to join.
Split: 68 = 60 + 8.
60 = LX | 8 = VIII
Join: LXVIII
Split: 349 = 300 + 40 + 9.
300 = CCC | 40 = XL | 9 = IX
Join: CCCXLIX
Split: 999 = 900 + 90 + 9 — every single part uses the subtractive rule.
900 = CM | 90 = XC | 9 = IX
Join: CMXCIX
Step by Step: Reading a Numeral Back to a Number
Split into chunks: D | XL | IX
D = 500 | XL = 40 | IX = 9
Add: 500 + 40 + 9 = 549
Full Reference: Roman Numerals 1 to 100
Use this chart to look up any number from 1 to 100 directly:
| # | Numeral | # | Numeral | # | Numeral | # | Numeral | # | Numeral |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I | 2 | II | 3 | III | 4 | IV | 5 | V |
| 6 | VI | 7 | VII | 8 | VIII | 9 | IX | 10 | X |
| 11 | XI | 12 | XII | 13 | XIII | 14 | XIV | 15 | XV |
| 16 | XVI | 17 | XVII | 18 | XVIII | 19 | XIX | 20 | XX |
| 21 | XXI | 22 | XXII | 23 | XXIII | 24 | XXIV | 25 | XXV |
| 26 | XXVI | 27 | XXVII | 28 | XXVIII | 29 | XXIX | 30 | XXX |
| 31 | XXXI | 32 | XXXII | 33 | XXXIII | 34 | XXXIV | 35 | XXXV |
| 36 | XXXVI | 37 | XXXVII | 38 | XXXVIII | 39 | XXXIX | 40 | XL |
| 41 | XLI | 42 | XLII | 43 | XLIII | 44 | XLIV | 45 | XLV |
| 46 | XLVI | 47 | XLVII | 48 | XLVIII | 49 | XLIX | 50 | L |
| 51 | LI | 52 | LII | 53 | LIII | 54 | LIV | 55 | LV |
| 56 | LVI | 57 | LVII | 58 | LVIII | 59 | LIX | 60 | LX |
| 61 | LXI | 62 | LXII | 63 | LXIII | 64 | LXIV | 65 | LXV |
| 66 | LXVI | 67 | LXVII | 68 | LXVIII | 69 | LXIX | 70 | LXX |
| 71 | LXXI | 72 | LXXII | 73 | LXXIII | 74 | LXXIV | 75 | LXXV |
| 76 | LXXVI | 77 | LXXVII | 78 | LXXVIII | 79 | LXXIX | 80 | LXXX |
| 81 | LXXXI | 82 | LXXXII | 83 | LXXXIII | 84 | LXXXIV | 85 | LXXXV |
| 86 | LXXXVI | 87 | LXXXVII | 88 | LXXXVIII | 89 | LXXXIX | 90 | XC |
| 91 | XCI | 92 | XCII | 93 | XCIII | 94 | XCIV | 95 | XCV |
| 96 | XCVI | 97 | XCVII | 98 | XCVIII | 99 | XCIX | 100 | C |
Why There’s No Zero
Roman numerals have no symbol for zero at all — there was simply nothing to write. This made even simple written arithmetic (especially multiplication and long division) genuinely awkward, since there was no positional place-value system to carry or borrow within. It’s one of the main reasons Hindu-Arabic numerals (0–9 with place value) gradually replaced Roman numerals for calculation from the late medieval period onward — even though Romans kept using their own numerals for labelling, dates and display for centuries afterward, much as we still do today.
- Any number from 1 to 3,999 can be written using the standard seven symbols and two rules.
- Break a number into thousands/hundreds/tens/ones and convert each part using the master building-block table.
- Beyond 3,999, a bar (vinculum) over a symbol multiplies its value by 1,000.
- Roman numerals have no zero, which is one reason they were eventually replaced by our decimal system for calculation.
Practice: Roman Numerals 1–1000
Convert a Roman numeral to a number, or a number to a Roman numeral.