What does MCMXCLXVIII in Roman numerals mean?

Answer 1

That's not correct; no Roman numeral would be written that way...

Why not?

M stands for 1000, C for 100, L for 50, X for 10, V for 5 and I for 1.

The first M means 1000

Then CM means (1000 - 100) = 900

XC means (100 - 10) = 90

L means 50

V means 5;

III means (1+1+1) = 3

Add them all together and the total is 2048.

There is a shorter way of writing that: MMXLVIII

But there is nothing wrong with the longer number because it conforms to the Rule of Roman Number Formation:

Starting from the left, thousands must be written before hundreds, hundreds before fifties, fifties before tens, tens before fives and fives before units.