The Greek number system.

The Greek civilization used an absolute-value number system. Until about 300 BC it was similar to all other such number systems, which used series of sticks and other basic figures:

The Greek numerals before about 300 BC
1I 100H 1000M
2II 200HH 2000MM
3III 300HHH 3000MMM
4IIII 400HHHH 4000MMMM
5Γ 500 5000
6ΓI 600H 6000M
7ΓII 700HH 7000MM
8ΓIII 800HHH 8000MMM
9ΓIIII 900HHHH 9000MMMM
10Δ 1000X
20ΔΔ 2000XX
30ΔΔΔ 3XXX
40ΔΔΔΔ 4000XXXX
50> 5000
60Δ 6000X
70ΔΔ 7000XX
80ΔΔΔ 8000XXX
90ΔΔΔΔ 9000XXXX

At around 300 BC Greek scientists introduced the use of letters from the alphabet to write numbers. There is some debate whether this idea was first used by Greek or Jewish scientists; the use of alphabet letters for Hebrew numbers occurred at about the same time. In any case the Greek civilization was among the first to introduce this system:

The Greek numerals since about 300 BC
1ΑAlpha 10ΙIota 100ΡRho
2ΒBeta 20ΚKappa 200ΣSigma
3Γ Gamma 30Λ Lambda 300Τ Tau
4Δ Delta 40Μ Mu 400Y Ypsilon
5ΕEpsilon 50ΝNu 500FPhi
6Diagamma 60ΞXi 600ΧChi
7Ζ Zeta 70Ο Omicron 700Ψ Psi
8Η Eta 80Π Pi 800Ω Omega
9Θ Theta 90 Koppa 900 San

Higher numbers used the same letters with superscripts: 'A for 1000, 'B for 2000 etc., αM for 10,000, βM for 20,000 etc. (Often the superscripts were placed above the main symbol, not before.)

First examples of this system to write Greek numbers date from the third century BC, which indicates that the introduction of alphabet letters for numbers was one of the innovations introduced by the rise of Greek science. The Roman numerals are direct descendants of the Greek numerals.


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