Attic numerals were used by the
ancient Greeks, possibly from the 7th century BC. They were also known as
Herodianic numerals because they were first described in a 2nd-century manuscript by
Herodian. They are also known as
acrophonic numerals because the symbols derive from the first letters of the words that the symbols represent:
five,
ten,
hundred,
thousand and
ten thousand. See
Greek numerals and
acrophony.