use Acme::Roman; print I + II; # III, as expected #### use Acme::Roman; print I() + II(); # III #### $ perl -w -Ilib -MAcme::Roman -e 'my $x = I+II' Argument "II" isn't numeric in addition (+) at -e line 1. Argument "I" isn't numeric in addition (+) at -e line 1. #### $ perl -w -Ilib -MAcme::Roman -e 'print I+II' Name "main::I" used only once: possible typo at -e line 1. print() on unopened filehandle I at -e line 1.