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by makmanalp 5684 days ago
Those roman numerals don't help with the multiplication at all.
1 comments
btilly 5684 days ago
They weren't meant to. The purpose of Roman numerals was to be a convenient notation that you would read on and off of an abacus. All actual calculations were done on an abacus.
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makmanalp 5684 days ago
Right. That's why "for a Roman, mental multiplication was exceedingly difficult". The representation didn't lend itself to mental calculation.
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