Attic numerals

The Attic numerals used the following main symbols, with the given values:{{cite journal|journal=The Journal of Philology|volume=XXII|year=1883|place=Cambridge|title=The Greek numerical alphabet|author-first=James|author-last=Gow|author-link=James Gow (scholar)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gZZNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA278|pages=278–9}}{{cite book|title=History of Mathematics|author-first=David Eugene|author-last=Smith|author-link=David Eugene Smith|chapter=Reading and writing numbers: Greek numerals|pages=49–51|year=1958|volume=2|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTytJGnTf1kC&pg=PA49|publisher=Dover Publications|isbn=9780486204307|place=New York}}

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.

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 use of "Η" (capital eta) for 100 reflects the early date of this numbering system. In the Greek language of the time, the word for a hundred would be pronounced {{IPA|[hɛkaton]}} (with a "rough aspirated" sound /h/) and written "ΗΕΚΑΤΟΝ", because "Η" represented the sound /h/ in the Attic alphabet. In later, "classical" Greek, with the adoption of the Ionic alphabet throughout the majority of Greece, the letter eta had come to represent the long e sound while the rough aspiration was no longer marked.{{cite book|author-first=Arthur Geoffrey|author-last=Woodhead|year=1981|title=The Study of Greek Inscriptions|edition=Second|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=18|isbn=0-521-23188-4}}{{cite book|author1-last=Smyth|author1-first=Herbert Weir|author1-link=Herbert Weir Smyth|author2-last=Messing|author2-first=Gordon M.|year=2002|orig-year=1920|title=Greek Grammar|edition=Revised|place=Cambridge, MA|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=10|chapter=§14|isbn=0-674-36250-0}} It was not until Aristophanes of Byzantium introduced the various accent markings during the Hellenistic period that the spiritus asper began to represent /h/, resulting in the spelling {{lang|grc|ἑκατόν}}.As found in Katharevousa, polytonic Greek in general and Modern Greek in particular before the 1982 official adoption of the monotonic system; however, neither the /h/ phoneme nor the spiritus asper, or "rough breathing mark", are present in monotonic Standard Modern Greek, resulting in the standard modern spelling {{lang|grc|εκατό}}.

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

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.

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.

{{main|Ancient Greek Numbers (Unicode block)}}

{{Unicode chart Ancient Greek Numbers}}

{{Table_Numeral Systems}}

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• {{annotated link|History of ancient numeral systems}}
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• {{annotated link|List of numeral systems}}

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{{Ancient Greek mathematics}}

Category:Numerals

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