Tool to decrypt/encrypt with Caesar Box, a Roman version of the scytales for ciphering text by transposition.
Caesar Box Cipher - dCode
Tag(s) : Transposition Cipher
dCode is free and its tools are a valuable help in games, maths, geocaching, puzzles and problems to solve every day!
A suggestion ? a feedback ? a bug ? an idea ? Write to dCode!
Caesar Box Cipher
Caesar Box Decoder
Caesar Box Encoder
Answers to Questions (FAQ)
What it the Caesar Box cipher? (Definition)
Caesar Box is a transposition cipher used in the Roman Empire, in which letters of the message are written in rows in a square (or a rectangle) and then, read by column.
How to encrypt using Caesar Box cipher?
Caesar Box Encryption uses a box, a rectangle (or a square), or at least a size W characterizing its width (that corresponds to the number of column of text)
Example: Take W=3 and the message to encrypt DCODE.
The message is written by rows and every W characters, add a new row. This will delimitate a box of characters.
If needed, the last row can be completed with another character, e.g. X or _.
Example: DCO
DE_
The encrypted message is obtained by reading the box by column.
Example: The cipher text is DDCEO_
How to decrypt Caesar Box cipher?
Caesar Box decryption requires to know the dimensions of the box (width W by height H)
Example: Take W=3, and the ciphertext is CSAAER which is 6-character long, then H=2 (as 6/3=2).
Write the text in column in the box. The plain text appears by reading each row.
Example: CAE
SAR
Example: The original plain text is CAESAR.
How to recognize Caesar Box ciphertext?
The Caesar box is a transposition cipher, so the coincidence index is the same as that of the plain text.
If the length of the message is a perfect square, it is a good clue.
This cipher appears in many movies or books, the most known are the scytale (parchment / ribbon from Sparta, Greece), the cipher used in Journey to the center of the Earth from Jules Verne (Arne Saknussemm's cryptogram), etc.
How to decipher Caesar Box without the size?
One can crack Caesar Box by testing all possible size of the rectangle.
Sometimes the message has a square number of characters (16 = 4.4 or 25 = 5 * 5 or 36 = 6 * 6, etc.), which makes it possible to deduce the size of the square, but sometimes it is a totally different number of characters.
What are the variants of the Caesar Box cipher?
When the box is a perfect square, encryption and decryption are identical.
The scytale is the other name of this cipher.
When was Caesar Box invented?
This encryption is similar to that of the scytale cipher, which have appeared in Greece, between the 10th and 7th centuries B.C., a long time before romans and Caesar (Caius Iulius).
Source code
dCode retains ownership of the "Caesar Box Cipher" source code. Except explicit open source licence (indicated Creative Commons / free), the "Caesar Box Cipher" algorithm, the applet or snippet (converter, solver, encryption / decryption, encoding / decoding, ciphering / deciphering, breaker, translator), or the "Caesar Box Cipher" functions (calculate, convert, solve, decrypt / encrypt, decipher / cipher, decode / encode, translate) written in any informatic language (Python, Java, PHP, C#, Javascript, Matlab, etc.) and all data download, script, or API access for "Caesar Box Cipher" are not public, same for offline use on PC, mobile, tablet, iPhone or Android app!
Reminder : dCode is free to use.
Cite dCode
The copy-paste of the page "Caesar Box Cipher" or any of its results, is allowed (even for commercial purposes) as long as you cite dCode!
Exporting results as a .csv or .txt file is free by clicking on the export icon
Cite as source (bibliography):
Caesar Box Cipher on dCode.fr [online website], retrieved on 2023-05-31,
- Caesar Box Decoder
- Caesar Box Encoder
- What it the Caesar Box cipher? (Definition)
- How to encrypt using Caesar Box cipher?
- How to decrypt Caesar Box cipher?
- How to recognize Caesar Box ciphertext?
- How to decipher Caesar Box without the size?
- What are the variants of the Caesar Box cipher?
- When was Caesar Box invented?
