The people wrote it on paper.
Take a guess!
In Roman numerals 1219 is MCCXIX.
Today we write 1554 in Roman numerals as MDLIV But the ancient Romans would have wrote it as MDLIIII
The ancient Romans would have notated 1842 in Roman numerals as MDCCCXXXXII
In Roman Numerals, 100 was C.
Nowadays we write out 24 in roman numerals as XXIV but the ancient Romans would have used XXIIII
100 in Roman Numerals is C.
The number 50 in Roman numerals is L.
In todays notation of Roman numerals: MMDXCIX But in the times of the Romans it probably was: IMMDC (2600-1)
Nowadays 1444 in Roman numerals are MCDXLIV But the ancient Romans would have wrote them out quite differently
Nowadays 1019 = MXIX in Roman numerals but the ancient Romans probably wrote it out quite differently.
In todays modern notation of Roman numerals: 2790 = MMDCCXC but the ancient Romans would have expressed them differently.
In todays notation of Roman numerals: (XIX) = 19,000 But the ancient Romans would have notated it differently