Editing History of large numbers (section)

==Classical antiquity==
In the Western world, specific [[Numeral (linguistics)|number names]] for [[large numbers|larger numbers]] did not come into common use until quite recently. The [[Ancient Greeks]] used a system based on the [[myriad]], that is, ten thousand, and their largest named number was a myriad myriad, or one hundred million.

In ''[[The Sand Reckoner]]'', [[Archimedes]] (c. 287–212 BC) devised a system of naming large numbers reaching up to 

:<math>10^{8 \times 10^{16}}</math>,

essentially by naming powers of a myriad myriad. This largest number appears because it equals a myriad myriad to the myriad myriadth power, all taken to the myriad myriadth power. This gives a good indication of the notational difficulties encountered by Archimedes, and one can propose that he stopped at this number because he did not devise any new [[ordinal numbers]] (larger than 'myriad myriadth') to match his new [[cardinal numbers]]. Archimedes only used his system up to 10<sup>64</sup>. 

Archimedes' goal was presumably to name large [[power of 10|powers of 10]] in order to give rough estimates, but shortly thereafter, [[Apollonius of Perga]] invented a more practical system of naming large numbers which were not powers of 10, based on naming powers of a myriad, for example, {{Overset|β|Μ}} would be a myriad squared. 

Much later, but still in [[classical antiquity|antiquity]], the [[Greek mathematics|Hellenistic mathematician]] [[Diophantus]] (3rd century) used a similar notation to represent large numbers.

The Romans, who were less interested in theoretical issues, expressed 1,000,000 as ''decies centena milia'', that is, 'ten hundred thousand';  it was only in the 13th century that the (originally French) word '[[million]]' was introduced.