So, I was messing around with this whole Roman numeral thing, right? And the title I had in mind was “roman numeral 4 iiii”. Seems simple enough, but it turned into a bit of a rabbit hole.
First, I started digging into why some clocks use “IIII” instead of “IV” for the number 4. I mean, I always learned that “IV” was the proper way to write it. I went through a bunch of websites and forums, and what I found was pretty interesting.
Turns out, the whole “IV” thing might be a newer invention. Apparently, the Romans themselves didn’t always use it. There’s this theory that using “IIII” was a way to avoid ticking off one of their gods, Jupiter, whose name started with “IV” in some old-timey scripts. Makes sense, I guess. You wouldn’t want to mess with the big guy upstairs, right?
- I read somewhere that using “IIII” also makes the clock face look more balanced.
- You’ve got that “VIII” on the other side, which is pretty hefty, and “IIII” kinda matches it better than a skinny “IV”.
- Makes the whole thing look more symmetrical, you know?
But here’s the kicker – Roman numerals don’t even have a symbol for zero! Each symbol stands for a power of ten. They skipped zero, they use a different symbol for one, ten, hundred, and so on. It’s like they had a whole different way of thinking about numbers.
A Strange Experience
I tried using these numerals in my daily life for a week. I wrote the date, counted money, and even tried to do some basic math using them. Let me tell you, it was a headache! It’s so different from what we’re used to. It really made me appreciate our current number system.
Anyway, this whole thing got me thinking about how different cultures have different ways of representing numbers. It’s not just about the symbols, but about the whole concept of how we count and calculate. It’s a trip, really.
