ROME

Although Roman numerals were cumbersome, Roman math was enhanced by their "pocket calculator." The Roman abacus used dumbbell shaped beads in slots or beads with holes in them threaded on bamboo slivers for manipulating numbers. Only after they found their solutions did they "notate" them in Roman numerals. Next

 

Right: The Roman abacus is based on a Bi-quinary system with four one units (1, 10, 100, 1000, etc.) plus a single five unit (5, 50, 500, 5000, etc.). The number on the abacus at the right is 1,069,181 (note the implied 0 in the abacus).