Caesar’s Box

• Caesar’s Box is a cipher named after Julius Caesar, but unlikely to have been used by him.

Method

• Take the Coded message, a long string of horizontal letters:
  • Divide it by its square root – 25 letters is 5, (16 letters is 4, etc.,)
  • Divide the message into groups of five.
  • Rearrange them into a box, one above the other:
  • The message can now be read down the vertical lines.

Example

• • ESVNITAOOCNBLIIAICNLIGASY

• • E	S	V	N	I
    T	A	O	O	C
    N	B	L	I	I
    A	I	C	N	L
    I	G	A	S	Y

• • ‘Etna is a big Volcano in Sicily’