We know that their literate numerical system was i, ii, iii etc. But how did they say it, if I wanted 10 fish, how would I say it? or any other amount for that matter.
Not only did they use words for numbers like any modern language, but number terms are among the most traditional and most conservative words, so Latin number terms are easily recognised as cognate with the same words in other Indo-European languages.
| English | Latin | Greek | Sanskrit | Lithuanian |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| one, ān | un- | heis, hen- | ēka- | víenas |
| two, tw- | duo, du- | duo, du- | dvā(u) | dù |
| three, thr- | tres, tri- | treis, tri- | tráyaḥ | trỹs |
| four | quattuor, quart- | tettares, tetr- | catvā́raḥ | keturì |
| five, fif- | quinque, quint- | pente, pemp- | páñca | penkì |
| six | sex | hex | ṣáṣ | šešì |
| seven | septem | hepta | saptá | septynì |
| eight | octo | oktō | aṣṭā́(u) | aštuonì |
| nine | novem, non- | ennea | náva | devynì |
| ten | decem, decim- | deka | dáśa | dẽšimt |
Just looking at a list like this it's possible to see some of the most regular shifts in particular language-families: for example the shift in English from word-initial /d/ to /t/ (two, ten) or the shift in Greek from word-initial /s/ to /h/ (hex, hepta). Latin quattuor, quinque are the only forms shown here that reveal that the original Proto-Indo-European words for "four" and "five" started with /k^(w)/, and that this original form shifted to /k/ in the other languages (and /f/ in English).
They spoke Latin. Latin has and always has had words for numbers. For example, one is uno, two is duo, three is tres, four is quattuor, etc.
Awesome, thanks for the answers guys/gals. I feel a bit silly not realizing that now. But nice to know anyhow.
They used numbers just like any other language, as adjectives modifying the noun. You'll probably recognize most of them. Thus, "10 dogs" would be "decem canes". In any proper literature, you will find numbers spelled out like this.
hi.. you'll find a couple more examples here