Why roman numeral iiii

The change may therefore have been made for reasons of symmetry. Sounds just odd enough she might have been right. Yes, all of those theories have been mentioned. But the one not mentioned in the last post is the one that strikes me four times as the most likely: Classicists who have studied old Roman inscription of marble monuments etc.

Interestingly, though, the most famous tower clock in the world, Big Ben, uses the IV form. According to this theory, by applying IIII on dials, clockmakers could create all the numerals by using fewer moulds. You can use our Roman numeral converter page to convert both number to Roman numerals and Roman numerals to number. This website uses cookies to collect information about how you interact with our website.

We use this information in order to improve and customize your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors. To find out more about the cookies we use, see our Privacy Policy. Roman Numerals ». The clock that struck the hours appeared at the end of the 13th century. When, in the 15th century, watchmakers gave this clock a dial, they chose Roman numerals which were already widely used, notably on sundials.

This tradition continued until and the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. The numerical notation of 4 is IV in Roman numerals. You probably think so, too. However, there are many cases where IIII is used at the position on the dial plates of clocks that use Roman numerals.