Quentin Caesar Salad invented Roman numerals. He convinced the Emperor Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus that instead of counting his enemies as individuals it would be easier to mark on the wall a vertical line like an I for each enemy he had and then count all the Is. The idea soon caught on and Quentin was a hero. Everyone counted in Is instead of counting the items in question.
There were Is everywhere in ancient Rome. You couldn't go anywhere without Is staring at you. Hence the saying, "walls have Is".
All street names, days on the calendar and chariots registration numbers had the Roman numeral I for identification. Can you imagine writing the day 31 January as IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. Count them. (You did?)
The idea stopped because chariot registration numbers grew so wide with the number of IIIIIs on them that the registration plate knocked pedestrians over as the chariots rushed by. Often chariots got stuck between two trees, (sorry ... II trees), as chariots sped by.
That's when Quentin came up with a new idea to save losing his head.
He suggested the introduction of new symbols. When we reach the number 4 it be written as IV, 5 as V, 6 as VI and so on until 8. Then he changed his mind and decided that IX would represent 9, X for 10, XI for 11 and so on. Then he added new letters for good measure. For example L for 50, C for 100, D for 500 and M for 1000.
For a while all was well and the Romans were happy counting in this new way. Then one day, the Emperor Nero received a strange text saying – I LV CLAVDIVS – and he didn’t know whether it was a misdirected amorous message from his wife to Claudius the slave, or his wife’s new telephone number.
So in a rage the Emperor banned the use of all cell-phones from the whole of the Roman Empire.
Nothing was heard from Quentin Caesar Salad after that. Or Claudius the slave for that matter.
...so Quentin Caesar Salad invented Roman Numerals, now know who to blame!
ReplyDeleteYes he did, Tom. A distant relative of mine.
DeleteGod bless.
So long as Quentin didn't talk in a way we describe as a word salad, he's okay in my book. Blessings, Victor!
ReplyDeleteHe talked mostly in Latin, I believe. Perhaps a bit of Greek too.
DeleteGod bless you and yours, Martha.
"His name was Quentin Caesar Salad"
ReplyDelete😂
That was his real name, Sandi. Although he did not like his first name; people called him Caesar Salad.
DeleteGod bless you.
A Caesar salad sounds goods right about now. Sage stuffing, too.
ReplyDeleteLest I start singing, "The night has a 1,000 eyes", I'll save the numerals for another day.
Indeed, the song "The night has a 1,000 eyes" was originally "The night has a IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ..." and the IIIs went on for so long the song never originally got in the music charts.
DeleteGod bless, Mevely.
What a funny name Quentin Caesar Salad is. It makes me want to have something to eat.:)
ReplyDeleteHe was once bitten by a snail thinking he was a lettuce. He became shy after that.
DeleteGod bless you, Bill.