Roman numerals from 1 to 1000: chart and building blocks
A complete list of every number from 1 to 1000 would be a thousand rows long and hard to take in. Fortunately you don't need one. Every Roman numeral up to 1000 is made up of at most three building blocks: one for the hundreds, one for the tens and one for the ones. If you know the three small charts in this article, you can form any number up to 1000 yourself. You will also find a clickable chart from 1 to 100 directly in the Roman numerals converter.
The ones from 1 to 9
The ones are the basic pattern that repeats for tens and hundreds. Pay particular attention to 4 and 9, because that is where the subtraction rule comes into play:
| Number | Roman | Number | Roman |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | I | 6 | VI |
| 2 | II | 7 | VII |
| 3 | III | 8 | VIII |
| 4 | IV | 9 | IX |
| 5 | V | 10 | X |
The tens from 10 to 90
For the tens, you simply swap the symbols: I becomes X, V becomes L and X becomes C. The pattern stays exactly the same:
| Number | Roman | Number | Roman |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | X | 60 | LX |
| 20 | XX | 70 | LXX |
| 30 | XXX | 80 | LXXX |
| 40 | XL | 90 | XC |
| 50 | L | 100 | C |
The hundreds from 100 to 1000
One level higher, the game repeats once more: I becomes C, V becomes D and X becomes M.
| Number | Roman | Number | Roman |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | C | 600 | DC |
| 200 | CC | 700 | DCC |
| 300 | CCC | 800 | DCCC |
| 400 | CD | 900 | CM |
| 500 | D | 1000 | M |
How to put the building blocks together
To write any number up to 1000, take the matching block from each chart and join them from large to small. If a place is missing because it holds a zero, simply leave the block out. There is no Roman zero.
- 47 = 40 + 7 = XL + VII = XLVII
- 99 = 90 + 9 = XC + IX = XCIX
- 256 = 200 + 50 + 6 = CC + L + VI = CCLVI
- 404 = 400 + 4 = CD + IV = CDIV
- 555 = 500 + 50 + 5 = D + L + V = DLV
- 999 = 900 + 90 + 9 = CM + XC + IX = CMXCIX
The converter shows exactly this breakdown for every number you enter, once as a chain of individual symbols and once by place value.
Frequently searched numbers between 1 and 1000
Some numbers come up particularly often: chapter numbers, anniversaries, page numbers in prefaces or puzzles. A small selection:
- 12 = XII
- 14 = XIV
- 19 = XIX
- 24 = XXIV
- 40 = XL
- 44 = XLIV
- 49 = XLIX
- 90 = XC
- 100 = C
- 150 = CL
- 250 = CCL
- 400 = CD
- 500 = D
- 750 = DCCL
- 900 = CM
- 1000 = M
The longest and the shortest numerals
The longest Roman numeral up to 1000 is 888, written DCCCLXXXVIII — twelve symbols. The reason: every place holds an 8, and 8 needs four symbols each time with VIII, LXXX and DCCC. The numbers 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000, on the other hand, need just one symbol.
Typical mistakes when looking numbers up
When copying numbers from a long chart, it is easy to slip a row. Even more common, though, are shortcuts that look logical but are still wrong: 99 is not IC, 490 is not XD, 995 is not VM. The rule behind it: subtraction only happens within one place, so I only before V and X, X only before L and C, C only before D and M. All the rules are explained with examples in the main article Reading and writing Roman numerals. If you are unsure, simply type the number into the converter. It detects invalid numerals and gives you the correct one.