# free basing \[Why do humans use base 10\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 5, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-basing-why-do-humans-use-base-10/624105 "2012-06-05T01:43:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-basing-why-do-humans-use-base-10/624105/41 "2012-06-07T17:12:31Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Roman numerals is not what makes their number system base ten. Spoken numbers going 1-10, 10 and 1, 10 and 2, …, 10 and 9, 20, … 100, two 100, however, makes it base ten. We need to distinguish between the concepts of “base of a number system” in general and the more specific “base of a **positional** number system”. Yes, most Indo-European languages including classical Latin use a base-ten verbal number system, even though most of them for most of their history didn’t have the concept of **place-value** numbers. That is, they verbally represented numbers using multiples of powers of ten, but they had a unique and specific name for each power. The form of a number like “one thousand one hundred and eleven” is base-ten but doesn’t imply place-value. Representing that number by saying or writing “one-one-one-one”, on the other hand, **does** imply place-value. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-basing-why-do-humans-use-base-10/624105/42 "2012-06-07T18:12:15Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Is that how the Romans said numbers? They’d see MCMXII and say, “One thousand nine hundred and twelve”? Or, the latin equivalent? > > The way we say numbers in the modern era is a consequence of our positional numbering system. No, our positional number system is a consequence of one way we said numbers. And yes, that’s how the Romans said numbers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-basing-why-do-humans-use-base-10/624105.md?page=2)