this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2025
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subtraction rule only allows a smaller numeral to be placed before a larger one if it is one of the following combinations: IV, IX, XL, XC, CD, or CM. The numeral 'i' ((1)) can only be placed before a 'V' ((5)) or an 'X' ((10)).
That rule wasn't always hard and fast, just as IV or XL were sometimes written as IIII or XXXX respectively. The XVIII Legion was occasionally termed XIIX, which should have been right out, but it worked well enough to inscribe in stone on a memorial and use on official calendars.
The fundamental requirement was that People would look at it and understand what it is saying. There was no "Office of Numeral Oversight" correcting people. The norms that we may learn about are descriptive of the majority, but not strictly prescriptive for all the cases.
If it follows the basic additive/subtractive pattern, it's good enough.
If you want to be a prick, write IMMMM
Maybe the symmetry made people more likely to overlook the conventional way of writing things. Still no hard rule, but more leniency if it looks cool.
Rool of cool!
That's not the correct spelling, but it's the cool one