diff --git a/Doc/Tutorial/09-persistence/int2roman.cc b/Doc/Tutorial/09-persistence/int2roman.cc
index b0cb5a19..8ef776f0 100644
--- a/Doc/Tutorial/09-persistence/int2roman.cc
+++ b/Doc/Tutorial/09-persistence/int2roman.cc
@@ -27,12 +27,9 @@ std::string int2roman( size_t decimal, size_t length )
   size_t power;	// power of ten
   size_t index;  // Indexes thru values to subtract
   
-  std::string roman;
-
+  std::string roman = "";
   roman.reserve(length);
 
-  roman[ 0 ] = '\0';
-
   for ( power = 0; power < nrows; power++ )
     for ( index = 0; index < ncols; index++ )
 	while ( decimal >= table_arabs[ power ][ index ] )