Roman Numeral Converter
Convert a number to Roman numerals, or a Roman numeral back to a number.
ƒShow your work
- 11994 breaks down into: M (1000) + CM (900) + XC (90) + IV (4)
- 2Assembled: MCMXCIV
About the Roman Numeral Converter
This tool converts a regular number into Roman numerals, or reads a Roman numeral back into a number — the same notation still stamped on clock faces, movie copyright years, book chapter numbers, and the corners of the Super Bowl.
People reach for it when engraving a wedding date or anniversary year onto a ring, decoding the copyright numerals hidden in a movie's closing credits, checking a Super Bowl or Olympic Games number, or just working through a school assignment on ancient numbering systems.
Switch the direction depending on which way you're converting, and it shows the breakdown step by step so the logic behind the result is visible, not just the answer.
How it’s calculated
Roman numerals use seven symbols (I=1, V=5, X=10, L=50, C=100, D=500, M=1000) combined additively, with a subtractive shortcut for four specific cases: a smaller symbol placed immediately before a larger one subtracts instead of adds (IV=4, IX=9, XL=40, XC=90, CD=400, CM=900). Converting a number to Roman numerals works greedily from the largest value down, repeatedly subtracting the biggest symbol that still fits.
Reading a Roman numeral back into a number works the opposite way: scan left to right, adding each symbol's value, except when a smaller symbol sits directly before a larger one — in that case, subtract the smaller value instead of adding it.
Frequently asked questions
What's the highest number this calculator can convert?
Standard Roman numeral notation supports numbers from 1 to 3999 using the basic seven symbols — larger numbers traditionally require an overline notation (multiplying a symbol's value by 1000) that isn't handled here.
Why is 4 written as IV instead of IIII?
IV uses the subtractive shortcut (one less than V) and is the standard modern convention, though IIII does appear historically and is still occasionally used on clock faces for visual symmetry with VIII on the opposite side.
How do I read a Roman numeral copyright date in movie credits?
Break it into recognizable chunks from left to right — for MCMXCIV, that's M (1000) + CM (900) + XC (90) + IV (4), totaling 1994. Entering the numeral into this calculator's reverse mode does that breakdown automatically.
Can Roman numerals represent zero or negative numbers?
No — the classical Roman numeral system has no symbol for zero and no way to represent negative values, which is one of the reasons it was eventually replaced by Arabic numerals for general arithmetic.
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