[ApplegateRanch]

First, they stole zero from the Hindus; they didn't invent it. It would, like a better mouse trap, have eventually made its way West.

Second, I refuse to believe that, just because they didn't have a separate symbol for it, that Greeks and Romans never got around to asking, "If I have 5 olives and give Alexander 3, and give Titus two, how many do I have left?"

What is significant is decimal notation, and different fish entirely.

[CarrotAndStick]

Yes, the decimal place-value system, with the notation for zero. That's what the Arabs stole from India and marketed it as the Arabic Numeral System.