As we already mentioned, people tried to create separate symbols for any given
quantity, but of course it was impossible. Because of that they started to create
groups and they named them; in that way Roman numbers were invented.
There existed other systems as well. Here are some examples:
Babylonian Numbers
As you can see, it would not be easy for us to remember them. Chinese figures have a very long tradition and are still in use today.
For us, they look impossible but for a well trained mind this is not a problem.
Both, Babylonians and Chinese used decimal systems associating elements in
groups of ten but the symbols they used were different.
Hindu-Arabic numbers
We do not exactly know who made more effort to develop that system. Its
beginning took place in India and the final world wide distribution was done by
Arabs. Of course Mathematicians from both nations contributed a lot to their
development and we can say the results changed our civilisation forever.
Here they are as they were at the beginning:
Please take a look at the picture. What clue has been given to recognize the
quantity? Why zero was necessary to be created?