section_path: Origin/Etruscan numerals
section_name: Etruscan numerals
paragraph_text: Etruscan numerals
  
  Rome was founded sometime between 850 and 750 BC. At the time, the region was inhabited by diverse populations of which the Etruscans were the most advanced. The ancient Romans themselves admitted that the basis of much of their civilization was Etruscan. Rome itself was located next to the southern edge of the Etruscan domain, which covered a large part of north-central Italy.
  
  The Roman numerals, in particular, are directly derived from the Etruscan number symbols: ⟨ 𐌠 ⟩, ⟨ 𐌡 ⟩, ⟨ 𐌢 ⟩, ⟨ 𐌣 ⟩, and ⟨ 𐌟 ⟩ for 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 (they had more symbols for larger numbers, but it is unknown which symbol represents which number). As in the basic Roman system, the Etruscans wrote the symbols that added to the desired number, from higher to lower value. Thus, the number 87, for example, would be written 50 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 1 + 1 = 𐌣𐌢𐌢𐌢𐌡𐌠𐌠 (this would appear as 𐌠𐌠𐌡𐌢𐌢𐌢𐌣 since Etruscan was written from right to left.)
  
  The symbols ⟨ 𐌠 ⟩ and ⟨ 𐌡 ⟩ resembled letters of the Etruscan alphabet, but ⟨ 𐌢 ⟩, ⟨ 𐌣 ⟩, and ⟨ 𐌟 ⟩ did not. The Etruscans used the subtractive notation, too, but not like the Romans. They wrote 17, 18, and 19 as 𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌢𐌢, 𐌠𐌠𐌢𐌢, and 𐌠𐌢𐌢, mirroring the way they spoke those numbers ("three from twenty", etc.); and similarly for 27, 28, 29, 37, 38, etc. However, they did not write 𐌠𐌡 for 4 (nor 𐌢𐌣 for 40), and wrote 𐌡𐌠𐌠, 𐌡𐌠𐌠𐌠 and 𐌡𐌠𐌠𐌠𐌠 for 7, 8, and 9, respectively.