Roman Numerals: Explained with Sample Problems

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Diego Tue, Jan 25, 2022 11:42 AM UTC

Roman Numerals. Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers in this system are represented by combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet.

1. Roman Numerals
Maths worksheets from mathsphere.co.uk
MATHEMATICS
Y5 Number and Place Value
5170
Roman Numerals
Equipment
Paper, pencil, ruler
MathSphere
© MathSphere www.mathsphere.co.uk
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2. Roman Numerals
Maths worksheets from mathsphere.co.uk
We didn’t use numbers like you when
counting and doing maths. We used capital
letters, which made it much harder!
The Romans used these capital letters:
I V X L C D M
1 5 10 50 100 500 1000
These letters were put together to form all the numbers, like this:
I=1 II = 2 III = 3 IV = 4 V=5
VI = 6 VII = 7 VIII = 8 IX = 9
There are two rules you need to know:
1. put a letter after a larger one means you add it.
2. put a letter before a larger one means you take it away.
So XI is 10 + 1 = 11 and IX is 10 -1 = 9
CX is 100 + 10 = 110 and XC is 100 - 10 = 90
Work out what numbers these Roman numerals represent:
1. VIII = 2. IV = 3. XII = 4. XV =
5. LX = 6. XL = 7. XIV = 8. XVII =
Write these numbers in Roman numerals:
9. 13 = 10. 22 = 11. 30 = 12. 49 =
13. 25 = 14. 101 = 15. 99 = 16. 90 =
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3. Roman Numerals
Maths worksheets from mathsphere.co.uk
Remember, the Romans used letters for their
numbers. Here are the letters they used.
The Romans used these capital letters:
I V X L C D M
1 5 10 50 100 500 1000
Try writing the numbers from 10 to 20 using Roman numerals.
10 11 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20
Try writing these Roman numerals as numbers.
XXXI XVI XX XLVII
XXXV XXVIII XXXIX XLI
Now try these harder
Roman numerals.
1. CLXI 2. CCIII 3. CCCXLV 4. CD
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4. Roman Numerals
Maths worksheets from mathsphere.co.uk
Just a reminder of the letters us
Romans used for counting and adding
etc.
The Romans used these capital letters:
I V X L C D M
1 5 10 50 100 500 1000
Try counting up in hundreds, using Roman numerals.
100 200 300 400 500
600 700 800 900 1000
Try writing these Roman numerals as numbers.
CC1 CCCX CDXX DL
DXCIX DCIX DCCL DCCCI
Now try some really tricky
Roman numerals.
1. LXIX 2. DXLIX 3. DCCCXV 4. DCCCLXXXVIII
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5. Roman Numerals
Maths worksheets from mathsphere.co.uk
Let’s have a look at how years are
written using Roman numerals.
The Romans used these capital letters:
I V X L C D M
1 5 10 50 100 500 1000
Try writing these years using, using Roman numerals.
1960 1870
2013 1066
1666 2020
Now try to write these
years in numbers:
MMXV MDLXVI MM
MDCCCL MCMXC MCDL
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6. Roman Numerals
Maths worksheets from mathsphere.co.uk
Answers
Page 2
1. 8 2. 4 3. 12 4. 15 5. 60 6. 40 7. 14 8. 17
9. XIII 10. XXII 11. XXX 12. IL 13. XXV 14. CI 15. IC 16. XC
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10. X 11. XI 12. XII 13. XIII 14. XIV 15. XV
16. XVI 17. XVII 18. XVIII 19. XIX 20. XX
31 16 20 47
35 28 39 41
1. 161 2. 203 3. 345 4. 400
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C CC CCC CD D
DC DCC DCCC CM M
201 310 420 550
599 609 750 801
1. 69 2. 549 3. 815 4. 888
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1960: MCMLX 1870: MDCCCLXX
2013: MMXIII 1066: MLXVI
1666: MDCLXV1 2020: MMXX
MMXV: 2015 MDLXVI: 1566
MM: 2000 MDCCCL: 1850
MCMXC: 1990 MCDL: 1450
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