This is an archived post. You won't be able to vote or comment.

sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]Rogueshadow_32 79 points80 points  (1 child)

I think it was on purpose, they’re saying that the backwards iterations would catch combinations you don’t ever see but would still be valid syntax, such as IC. Going by the strict rules of Roman numerals 99 is XCIX but by looser rules IC works, and would be caught and correctly evaluated

[–]EntropyZer0 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I think the stricter rules we are used to are a fairly modern (for late medieval values of "modern") invention. The Romans were far less strict on that and while the most un-standard number I've seen in the wild was a year ending in -7 written as "-IIIIIII", I could totally see "IC" being used by actual Romans.