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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Neal, post: 3177655, member: 43872&quot;]Greek numerals were even more cumbersome than Roman numerals.&nbsp; Each letter of the alphabet stood for a number:&nbsp; alpha=1, beta+2, etc. (plus a couple of odd letters that were no longer used as letters).&nbsp; Iota+10, kappa=20,&nbsp; mu=40, hence their appearance on Byzantine coins of 10, 20, and 40 nummi.&nbsp; Rho=100, sigma=200, tau=300, etc.&nbsp; Neither system used zero.&nbsp; Place meant almost nothing to the Greek system.&nbsp; Try doing your college algebra with that!&nbsp; Yet Romans managed to build empires, roads, bridges, aqueducts and magnificent buildings and monuments.&nbsp; Greeks did geometry, calculated roots and powers, and formulated complex theorems.&nbsp; One Greek, Eratosthenes (c. 276-194 BC) calculated the earth&#039;s diameter at about 24,662 miles (less than 300 miles short), figured the earth&#039;s tilt, drew lines of latitude and longitude, and invented leap day. All of this with no computers other than their heads, pens, and a little papyrus.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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