Attic numerals

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Detail of stela showing tributes paid by allies of Athens in the League of Delos. The amounts are in Attic numerals, using the drachma sign "𐅂" instead of the generic unit sign "Ι". Some amounts are "𐅄" = 50, "ΗΗΗ" = 300, "𐅅ΗΗΗ" = 800, "ΔΔΔ𐅂𐅂𐅂" = 33, "Χ" = 1000, and "Χ𐅅𐅄Δ𐅂𐅂"? = 1562?.
Plaque above the main entrance to the orphanage, which later became a prison, on the Greek island of Aegina. The ancient Greek inscription translates as “The Governor erected this orphanage in the year 1828”. The year is shown as Χ𐅅ΗΗΗΔΔΠΙΙΙ.

The Attic

(ancient) Greek
words that the symbols represented.

The Attic numerals were a decimal (base 10) system, like the older

powers of ten
— units, tens, hundred, thousands, etc.. Then these parts were written down in sequence, in order of decreasing value. As in the basic Roman system, each part was written down using a combination of two symbols, representing one and five times that power of ten.

Attic numerals were adopted possibly starting in the 7th century BCE and although presently called Attic, they or variations thereof were universally used by the Greeks. No other

before the Common Era.[1][2] Their replacement by the classic Greek numerals started in other parts of the Greek World around the 3rd century BCE. They are believed to have served as model for the Etruscan number system, although the two were nearly contemporary and the symbols are not obviously related. [citation needed
]

The system

Symbols

The Attic numerals used the following main symbols, with the given values:[1][2]

Value Symbol Talents Staters Notes Etruscan Roman
1 Ι Tally mark? 𐌠 I
5 Π 𐅈 𐅏 Old Greek: ΠΕΝΤΕ [pɛntɛ] Modern: πέντε 𐌡 V
10 Δ 𐅉 𐅐 Old Greek: ΔΕΚΑ [deka] Modern: δέκα 𐌢 X
50 𐅊 𐅑 "Δ" in "Π": 10 × 5 = 50 𐌣 L
100 Η 𐅋 𐅒 Old Greek: ΗΕΚΑΤΟΝ [hɛkaton] Modern: εκατό 𐌟 C
500 𐅌 𐅓 "Η" in "Π": 100 × 5 = 500 ? D
1000 Χ 𐅍 𐅔 Old Greek: ΧΙΛΙΟΙ [kʰilioi] Modern: χίλιοι ? M
5000 𐅎 "Χ" in "Π": 1000 × 5 = 5000 ? V
10000 Μ 𐅕 Old Greek: ΜΥΡΙΟΙ [myrioi] Modern: μύριοι ? X
50000 𐅖 "Μ" in "Π": 10000 × 5 = 50000 ? L

The symbols representing 50, 500, 5000, and 50000 were composites of an old form of the capital letter pi (with a short right leg) and a tiny version of the applicable power of ten. For example, 𐅆 was five times one thousand.

Special symbols

The fractions "one half" and "one quarter" were written "𐅁" and "𐅀", respectively.

The symbols were slightly modified when used to encode amounts in talents (with a small capital tau, "Τ") or in staters (with a small capital sigma, "Σ"). Specific numeral symbols were used to represent one drachma ("𐅂") and ten minas "𐅗".

The symbol for 100

The use of "Η" (capital

spiritus asper began to represent /h/, resulting in the spelling ἑκατόν.[5]

Simple multiples of powers of ten

Multiples 1 to 9 of each power of ten were written by combining the two corresponding "1" and "5" digits, namely:

Units Ι II III IIII Π ΠI ΠII ΠIII ΠIIII
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Tens Δ ΔΔ ΔΔΔ ΔΔΔΔ 𐅄 𐅄Δ 𐅄ΔΔ 𐅄ΔΔΔ 𐅄ΔΔΔΔ
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Hundreds Η ΗΗ ΗΗΗ ΗΗΗΗ 𐅅 𐅅Η 𐅅ΗΗ 𐅅ΗΗΗ 𐅅ΗΗΗΗ
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Thousands Χ ΧΧ ΧΧΧ ΧΧΧΧ 𐅆 𐅆Χ 𐅆ΧΧ 𐅆ΧΧΧ 𐅆ΧΧΧΧ
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000
Tens of thousands Μ ΜΜ ΜΜΜ ΜΜΜΜ 𐅇 𐅇Μ 𐅇ΜΜ 𐅇ΜΜΜ 𐅇ΜΜΜΜ
10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000

Unlike the more familiar Roman numeral system, the Attic system used only the so-called "additive" notation. Thus, the numbers 4 and 9 were written ΙΙΙΙ and ΠΙΙΙΙ, not ΙΠ and ΙΔ.

General numbers

In general, the number to be represented was broken down into simple multiples (1 to 9) of powers of ten — units, tens, hundred, thousands, etc.. Then these parts would be written down in sequence, from largest to smallest value. For example:

  • 49 = 40 + 9 = ΔΔΔΔ + ΠΙΙΙΙ = ΔΔΔΔΠΙΙΙΙ
  • 2001 = 2000 + 1 = ΧΧ + I = ΧΧΙ
  • 1982 = 1000 + 900 + 80 + 2 = Χ + 𐅅ΗΗΗΗ + 𐅄ΔΔΔ + ΙΙ = Χ𐅅ΗΗΗΗ𐅄ΔΔΔΙΙ
  • 62708 = 60000 + 2000 + 700 + 8 = 𐅇Μ + ΧΧ + 𐅅ΗΗ + ΠΙΙΙ = 𐅇ΜΧΧ𐅅ΗΗΠΙΙΙ.

Unicode

Main article: Ancient Greek Numbers (Unicode block)
Ancient Greek Numbers[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+1014x 𐅀 𐅁 𐅂 𐅃 𐅄 𐅅 𐅆 𐅇 𐅈 𐅉 𐅊 𐅋 𐅌 𐅍 𐅎 𐅏
U+1015x 𐅐 𐅑 𐅒 𐅓 𐅔 𐅕 𐅖 𐅗 𐅘 𐅙 𐅚 𐅛 𐅜 𐅝 𐅞 𐅟
U+1016x 𐅠 𐅡 𐅢 𐅣 𐅤 𐅥 𐅦 𐅧 𐅨 𐅩 𐅪 𐅫 𐅬 𐅭 𐅮 𐅯
U+1017x 𐅰 𐅱 𐅲 𐅳 𐅴 𐅵 𐅶 𐅷 𐅸 𐅹 𐅺 𐅻 𐅼 𐅽 𐅾 𐅿
U+1018x 𐆀 𐆁 𐆂 𐆃 𐆄 𐆅 𐆆 𐆇 𐆈 𐆉 𐆊 𐆋 𐆌 𐆍 𐆎
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1
2.^ Grey area indicates non-assigned code point
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See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b Gow, James (1883). "The Greek numerical alphabet". The Journal of Philology. XXII. Cambridge: 278–9.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780486204307
    .
  3. ISBN 0-521-23188-4
    .
  4. ISBN 0-674-36250-0
    .
  5. Standard Modern Greek
    , resulting in the standard modern spelling εκατό.
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