The Roman numerals we are going to use to make the conversion:
I = 1; V = 5;
How do we proceed?
Convert, one by one, the numbers that represent the month, the day and the year, to Roman numerals.
Month, May:
May is the fifth (5th) month of the year.
Replace the name of the month with the corresponding number of the month of the year: 5.
5 = V;
Day, 06:
I = 1; V = 5;
6 = 5 + 1 = V + I = VI;
Year, 4:
I = 1; V = 5;
4 = 5 - 1 = V - I = IV;
The final answer:
I = 1 (one); V = 5 (five);
X = 10 (ten); L = 50 (fifty);
C = 100 (one hundred);
D = 500 (five hundred);
M = 1,000 (one thousand);
- For writing dates in the future:
(*) V = 5,000 or |V| = 5,000 (five thousand); see below why we prefer: (V) = 5,000.
(*) X = 10,000 or |X| = 10,000 (ten thousand); see below why we prefer: (X) = 10,000.
Note 1: (*) These numbers were written either with an overline (a bar above the number) or between two vertical lines (two vertical bars).
Note 2 (*) Instead we prefer to write these larger numerals between brackets "()" since: 1) when compared to the overline - it is more accessible to computer users; 2) when compared to the vertical line - it avoids any confusion between the vertical line "|" and the Roman numeral "I" (one).
So, (V) = 5,000 and (X) = 10,000.
Note 3: (*) Romans were not using right from the beginning numbers larger than 3,999, so they initially had no representation for numbers like:
- 5,000 = (V), 10,000 = (X), 50,000 = (L), 100,000 = (C), 500,000 = (D), or 1,000,000 = (M).
These larger numerals were added later to the system and various different notations were used for them, not necessarily the ones above.
For a long time, the maximum number that could be written using Roman numerals was: