ALGEBRA WITH ROMAN NUMERALS
Aren’t you glad you don’t have to do algebra with Roman numerals?
The problem is: Xx + X = CX.
This translates to 10x + 10 = 110.
Subtract X from both sides: Xx = CX – X = C.
Translation from Roman numerals: 10x = 110 – 10 = 100.
Now divide both sides by the coefficient: x = C/X = X.
Not expressed in Roman numerals, it looks like this: x = 100/10 = 10.
CHRIS MCMULLEN, PH.D.
Copyright © 2015 Chris McMullen, author of the Improve Your Math Fluency series of math workbooks
Improve Your Math Fluency 
That would be quite messy. However, there was still no algebra during that time. Instead, they use geometric algebra.
Of course. I was just having a little fun. 🙂