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The rules as we now know them today governing the Roman numeral system had absolutely nothing to do with the ancient Romans because they were introduced during the Middle Ages presumably to make Roman numerals more compatible with Hindu-Arabic numerals that were gradually replacing Roman numerals at the time but there once were only two basic rules governing the Roman numeral system and they were as follows:-

Positive numerals went from left to right in descending order.

Negative numerals went from right to left in ascending order.

As for example: SXCL = -1/2-10+100+50 = 139.5

Note that: -10 is less than -1/2 and that 100 is greater than 50

As for example: SXXCL = -1/2-20+100+50 = 129.5

Note that: -20 is less than -1/2 and that 100 is greater than 50

The above examples were extracted with slight modifications from the reference book 'History of Mathematics' volume 2 by David Eugene Smith first published in 1925 and ISBN 0486 204 308

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Q: What are the real rules regarding Roman numerals?
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