Greek Numerals - History

History

Originally, before the adoption of the Greek alphabet, Linear A and Linear B had used a different system, called Aegean numbers, with symbols for 1, 10, 100, 1000 and 10000 operating with the following formula: | = 1, – = 10, ◦ = 100, ¤ = 1000, ☼ = 10000.

The earliest alphabet-related system of numerals used with the Greek letters was a set of the acrophonic Attic numerals, operating much like Roman numerals (which derived from this scheme), with: Ι = 1, Π = 5, Δ = 10, Η = 100, Χ = 1000, Μ = 10000; and with 50, 500, 5000, and 50000 represented by composites of Π and a tiny version of the applicable power of ten. The acrophonic system was replaced by a new alphabetic system, sometimes called the Ionic numeral system, from the 4th century BCE.