How would you calculate 999999 in Roman numerals?

Answer 1

If you were to enumerate Roman numerals in the same format that most people wrongly use today then during the Roman era you'd probably have been thrown to the lions for misguiding the public. Today's rules governing the Roman numeral system were introduced during the Middle Ages and that was centuries after the Romans had retreated from England.

The ingenious Romans would have probably calculated 999,999 in the following logical and methodical manner:-

(CM)+(XC) = (XM)

(XM)+(IX) = (IM)

(IM)+CM = C(M)

C(M)+XC = X(M)

X(M)+IX = I(M) => -1+1,000,000 = 999,999

Hindu-Arabic conversion:-

900,000+90,000 = 990,000

990,000+9,000 = 999,000

999,000+900 = 999,900

999,900+90 = 999,990

999,990+9 = 999,999

For more complicated calculations the Romans would have used an abacus calculating device.