this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2024
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Uh, you mean "IX"?
VIIII is a valid way to write 9, though antiquated. If you look at very old clocks, you'll see they all use this notation.
The reason clocks use it, is to not make it look visually unbalanced. Most often they write 4 as IIII. I find it infuriating to break such a simple rule though.
But also, I've never ever seen VIIII.
Julius Caesar's memoir of war in Gaul makes use of VIIII, for instance. You're right that it's much rarer, but was still used contemporarily and in modern times.