How did Roman engineers, 'accountants', etc. deal with Roman numerals back in ancient Rome?
Did they have alternative systems (not necessarily numeral, but anything) to get around the limitations of Roman numerals or did they actually use them for calculations, etc.?
hi! you may find some information of interest in this section of the FAQ:
I'm not sure which limitations you are considering, but among accountants, one of the weaknesses of Roman numerals is the possibility of forgery and of alterations in the account books. For that reason numbers were fully written out. For example, in 1299 the Florentine Arte del Cambio (Exchange Guild) decreed that the bookkeeper "shall write openly and fully by letters".
We still do that when we write checks.
For other calculations, Roman numerals are actually better than positional numbering systems at detecting certain errors. They are self checking, so there is little chance of making the grade school mistake of not having all of your columns lined up.