Converting Roman Numerals to Arabic (Base-10) Numbers

By
Donald Ramirez

November 18, 2005


This method contains an introduction to Roman numerals and a method for converting Roman numerals
to their equivalent Arabic (base-10) numbers.

The basic Roman numerals discussed in this paper are the following.

Roman numeral Base-10 Value
I 1
V 5
X 10
L 50
C 100
D 500
M 1,000

Each basic Roman numeral is superior to all basic Roman numerals of lesser value, and each basic Roman
numeral is subordinate to all basic Roman numerals of greater value.

General Roman numerals are written using the basic Roman numerals, but Roman numerals do not use a
place value system as base-10 numbers do. For example, 123 means ( ) ( ) ( ) 1 100 2 10 3 1 + + .

Before discussing a method of translating from Roman numerals to Arabic numbers, let us examine some
examples of Roman numerals and their base-10 values. (Note that some values are skipped.)

Roman
numeral
Base-10
Value
Roman
numeral
Base-10
Value
Roman
numeral
Base-10
Value
Roman
numeral
Base-10
Value
Roman
numeral
Base-10
Value
I 1 II 2 III 3 IV 4 V 5
VI 6 VII 7 VIII 8 IX 9 X 10
XI 11 XII 12 XIII 13 XIV 14 XV 15
XVI 16 XVII 17 XVIII 18 XIX 19 XX 20
XXXVI 36 XXXVII 37 XXXVIII 38 XXXIX 39 XL 40
XLI 41 XLII 42 XLIII 43 XLIV 44 XLV 45
XLVI 46 XLVII 47 XLVIII 48 XLIX 49 L 50
XCVI 96 XCVII 97 XCVIII 98 XCIX 99 C 100
CI 101 CII 102 CIII 103 CIV 104 CV 105
CDXCVI 496 CDXCVII 497 CDXCVIII 498 CDXCIX 499 D 500
CMXCVI 996 CMXCVII 997 CMXCVIII 998 CMXCIX 999 M 1000

Roman numerals do not have a symbol for zero, which prevents using Roman numerals to represent
negative numbers. Another feature of Roman numerals is that many are not unique. Microsofts Excel
spreadsheet program has a function that will translate base-10 (Arabic) numbers, from 1 to 3999, to
Roman numerals. The example given in the Excel help program shows that the following are Roman
numerals that represent 499:
Converting Roman Numerals to Arabic (Base-10) Numbers
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Roman Number for 499 Comment
CDXCIX Classic Roman numeral style
LDVLIV More concise version
XCIX More concise version
VDIV More concise version
ID More concise version

I do not know the rules for converting an Arabic number to a specific version of Roman numerals, but I
will show you how to convert Roman numerals to their equivalent Arabic numbers.

Converting Roman Numerals that contain More than One Letter to Arabic (Base-10) Numbers

The following method is an example of an algorithm, a combination of instructions and data that can be
used to convert Roman numerals to Arabic numbers.

Set Sum =0.

REPEAT

Compare the first two letters of the Roman numeral: Is the first letter subordinate (of lesser value)
to the letter on its right?

If yes:

Subtract the value of the subordinate letter from the value of the superior letter.
Add the difference to Sum.
Delete the first two letters from the Roman numeral.

If no:

Add the value of the first letter to Sum.
Delete the first letter from the Roman numeral.

UNTIL (All letters have been used.)

The final value of Sum is the Arabic (base-10) value of the Roman numeral.

Converting Roman Numerals to Arabic (Base-10) Numbers
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Example 1: Convert DCLXXIV to an Arabic number.

Set Sum =0.

Pass 1:
Because D =500 and C =100, D is not subordinate to C.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +500 =0 +500 =500.
Discard the D, which leaves CLXXIV.

Pass 2:
Because C =100 and L =50, C is not subordinate to L.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +100 =500 +100 =600.
Discard the C, which leaves LXXIV.

Pass 3:
Because L =50 and X =10, L is not subordinate to X.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +50 =600 +50 =650.
Discard the L, which leaves XXIV.

Pass 4:
Because the first two letters in the remaining Roman numeral are the same, and no letter is subordinate or
superior to itself, X is not subordinate to X.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +10 =650 +10 =660.
Discard the first X, which leaves XIV.

Pass 5:
Because X =10 and I =1, X is not subordinate to I.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +10 =660 +10 =670.
Discard the X, which leaves IV.

Pass 6:
Because I =1 and V =5, I is subordinate to V.
Therefore,
Subtract 1 from 5 to obtain the difference of 4.
Replace Sum with Sum +4 =670 +4 =674.
Discard the I and the V, which uses up all the letters.

Because the final value of Sum is 674, this is the base-10 equivalent of DCLXXIV.


Converting Roman Numerals to Arabic (Base-10) Numbers
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Example 2: Convert MDXLVIII to its equivalent Arabic number.

Set Sum =0.

Pass 1:
Because M =1000 and D =500, M is not subordinate to D.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +1000 =0 +1000 =1000.
Discard the M, which leaves DXLVIII.

Pass 2:
Because D =500 and X =10, D is not subordinate to X.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +500 =1000 +500 =1500.
Discard the D, which leaves XLVIII.

Pass 3:
Because X =10 and L =50, X is subordinate to L.
Therefore,
Subtract the value of X from the value of L to obtain the difference of 40.
Replace Sum with Sum +40 =1500 +40 =1540.
Discard the X and the L, which leaves VIII.

Pass 4:
Because V =5 and I =1, V is not subordinate to I.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +5 =1540 +5 =1545.
Discard the V, which leaves III.

Pass 5:
Because no letter is subordinate to itself, I is subordinate to I.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +1 =1545 +1 =1546.
Discard the first I, which leaves II.

Pass 6:
Again I is not subordinate to itself.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +1 =1546 +1 =1547.
Discard the I, which leaves I.

Pass 7:
When there is only one remaining letter, we state that the letter is not subordinate.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +1 =1547 +1 =1548.
Discard the I, which uses up all the letters.

Because the final value of Sum is 1548, this is the base-10 equivalent of MDXLVIII.
Converting Roman Numerals to Arabic (Base-10) Numbers
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Example 3: Convert CDXXVIII to its equivalent Arabic number.

Set Sum =0.

Pass 1:
Because C =100 and D =500, C is subordinate to D.
Therefore,
Subtract the value of C from the value of D to obtain the difference of 400.
Replace Sum with Sum +400 =0 +400 =400.
Discard the C and the D, which leaves XXVIII.

Pass 2:
X is not subordinate to itself.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +10 =400 +10 =410.
Discard the first X, which leaves XVIII.

Pass 3:
Because X =10 and V =5, X is not subordinate to V.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +10 =410 +10 =420.
Discard the X, which leaves VIII.

Pass 4:
Because V =5 and I =1, V is not subordinate to I.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +5 =420 +5 =425.
Discard the V, which leaves III.

Pass 5:
I is not subordinate to itself.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +1 =425 +1 =426.
Discard the first I, which leaves II.

Pass 6:
I is not subordinate to itself.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +1 =426 +1 =427.
Discard the first I, which leaves I.

Pass 7:
When there is only one remaining letter, we state that the letter is not subordinate.
Therefore,
Replace Sum with Sum +1 =427 +1 =428.
Discard the I, which uses up all the letters.

Because the final value of Sum is 428, this is the base-10 equivalent of CDXXVIII.
Converting Roman Numerals to Arabic (Base-10) Numbers
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The following Roman numerals are provided so that the reader can practice using the above algorithm.
The answers are on the next page.

1 XXVIII 21 CLV 41MMCCCLXXI
2 XXXIV 22 CXCVII 42MMCCCLXXIII
3 LXXII 23 CCXXXVII 43MMDLXVI
4 LXXXIV 24 CDLI 44MMDLXVIII
5 LXXXIX 25 DCCCXXIII 45MMDCLIV
6 CXII 26 CMXLIV 46MMDCCXXIX
7 CXVII 27 CMLXXXII 47MMCMII
8 CXLVIII 28 MCIX 48MMCMLXIV
9 CLIX 29 MCCXLVI 49MMCMLXXXIV
10 CCXLIII 30 MCCCXVI 50MMMVIII
11 CCCLXII 31 MCCCXLV 51MMMLXXXIX
12 CDLXVII 32 MCCCLXXIII 52MMMCLII
13 DXLVIII 33 MDIX 53MMMCXCIV
14 DXCVI 34 MDCXCVI 54MMMCCCXXXIII
15 DCXXVIII 35 MDCCIII 55MMMCCCLXVI
16 DCCLXIV 36 MDCCCXXXV 56MMMCDII
17 DCCCXXIX 37 MMLXXII 57MMMDXLVII
18 MLXXVIII 38 MMCLXXXV 58MMMDLXXXII
19 MCDLVI 39 MMCCXXV 59MMMDCLXXV
20 MCMXCVIII 40 MMCCLXIV 60MMMDCCVI

Converting Roman Numerals to Arabic (Base-10) Numbers
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Answers for the preceding Roman numerals:

1 XXVIII = 28 21 CLV = 155 41 MMCCCLXXI = 2371
2 XXXIV = 34 22 CXCVII = 197 42 MMCCCLXXIII = 2373
3 LXXII = 72 23 CCXXXVII = 237 43 MMDLXVI = 2566
4 LXXXIV = 84 24 CDLI = 451 44 MMDLXVIII = 2568
5 LXXXIX = 89 25 DCCCXXIII = 823 45 MMDCLIV = 2654
6 CXII = 112 26 CMXLIV = 944 46 MMDCCXXIX = 2729
7 CXVII = 117 27 CMLXXXII = 982 47 MMCMII = 2902
8 CXLVIII = 148 28 MCIX = 1109 48 MMCMLXIV = 2964
9 CLIX = 159 29 MCCXLVI = 1246 49 MMCMLXXXIV = 2984
10 CCXLIII = 243 30 MCCCXVI = 1316 50 MMMVIII = 3008
11 CCCLXII = 362 31 MCCCXLV = 1345 51 MMMLXXXIX = 3089
12 CDLXVII = 467 32 MCCCLXXIII = 1373 52 MMMCLII = 3152
13 DXLVIII = 548 33 MDIX = 1509 53 MMMCXCIV = 3194
14 DXCVI = 596 34 MDCXCVI = 1696 54 MMMCCCXXXIII = 3333
15 DCXXVIII = 628 35 MDCCIII = 1703 55 MMMCCCLXVI = 3366
16 DCCLXIV = 764 36 MDCCCXXXV= 1835 56 MMMCDII = 3402
17 DCCCXXIX = 829 37 MMLXXII = 2072 57 MMMDXLVII = 3547
18 MLXXVIII = 1078 38 MMCLXXXV = 2185 58 MMMDLXXXII = 3582
19 MCDLVI 1456 39 MMCCXXV = 2225 59 MMMDCLXXV = 3675
20 MCMXCVIII 1998 40 MMCCLXIV = 2264 60 MMMDCCVI = 3706