Editing Roman numerals (section)

===Early Roman numerals===
The early Roman numerals for 1, 10, and 100 were the Etruscan ones: {{angbr|𐌠}}, {{angbr|𐌢}}, and {{angbr|𐌟}}. The symbols for 5 and 50 changed from {{angbr|𐌡}} and {{angbr|𐌣}} to {{angbr|V}} and {{angbr|ↆ}} at some point. The latter had flattened to {{angbr|⊥}} (an inverted T) by the time of [[Augustus]], and soon afterwards became identified with the graphically similar letter {{angbr|{{rn|L}}}}.<ref name=PropN3218/>

The symbol for 100 was written variously as {{angbr|𐌟}} or {{angbr|ↃIC}}, and was then abbreviated to {{angbr|{{rn|Ↄ}}}} or {{angbr|{{rn|C}}}}, with {{angbr|{{rn|C}}}} (which matched the Latin letter ''C'') finally winning out. It might have helped that ''C'' was the initial letter of {{lang|la|CENTUM}}, Latin for "hundred".

The numbers 500 and 1000 were denoted by {{rn|V}} or {{rn|X}} overlaid with a box or circle. Thus, 500 was like a {{rn|Ɔ}} superimposed on a {{rn|⋌}} or {{rn|⊢}}, making it look like {{rn|<s>Þ</s>}}. It became {{rn|<s>D</s>}} or {{rn|Ð}} by the time of Augustus, under the graphic influence of the letter {{rn|D}}. It was later identified as the letter {{rn|D}}; an alternative symbol for "thousand" was a {{rn|CIↃ}}, and half of a thousand or "five hundred" is the right half of the symbol, {{rn|IↃ}}, and this may have been converted into {{rn|D}}.<ref name="asimov on numbers 12" />

The notation for 1000 was a circled or boxed {{rn|X}}: Ⓧ, {{rn|⊗}}, {{rn|⊕}}, and by Augustan times was partially identified with the Greek letter {{rn|Φ}} ''[[phi]]''. Over time, the symbol changed to {{rn|Ψ}} and {{rn|ↀ}}. The latter symbol further evolved into {{rn|∞}}, then {{rn|⋈}}, and eventually changed to {{rn|M}} under the influence of the Latin word ''mille'' "thousand".<ref name=PropN3218/>

According to Paul Kayser, the basic numerical symbols were {{rn|I}}, {{rn|X}}, {{rn|𐌟}} and {{rn|Φ}} (or {{rn|⊕}}) and the intermediate ones were derived by taking half of those (half an {{rn|X}} is {{rn|V}}, half a {{rn|𐌟}} is {{rn|ↆ}} and half a {{rn|Φ/⊕}} is {{rn|D}}). Then 𐌟 and ↆ developed as mentioned above.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keyser |first=Paul |date=1988 |title=The Origin of the Latin Numerals 1 to 1000 |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=92 |issue=4 |pages=529–546 |doi=10.2307/505248 |jstor=505248 |s2cid=193086234}}</ref>

[[File:Colosseum-Entrance LII.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Entrance to section {{rn|LII}} (52) of the [[Colosseum]], with numerals still visible]]