Cryptography Worksheet — The Caesar Shi

Wkh Fdhvdu Vkliw

Julius Caesar used a simple Subs tu on Cipher to send messages to his troops. He used a very simple
rule to replace each le er with another le er from the alphabet. He subs tuted each le er by the le er
that was 3 places further along in the alphabet, so that “a” was replaced with “D”, “b” with “E” and so on.
Complete the table below to show what each le er is enciphered as using this system.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

D E F

Using the Caesar Cipher, encode the name of your school. Check that you get the same code as the person
sat next to you.

How easy is it for someone who intercepts a secret message wri en using this cipher to work out the origi-
nal message? Is there anyway to make it harder to work out?

Although Caesar subs tuted each le er with the le er 3 places ahead, there are other varia ons of this
cipher. You could shi each le er by 4 or 5 or 6 etc. This is called a key, and depending on which key you
use, you will get a different message.

Cut out and make a Caesar Shi wheel. Use the wheel to encipher your name using three different keys.
Pass your encoded names to the person next to you, and ask them to work out what keys you used.

How many different keys are there?

Decode this message, which was enciphered using a Caesar Shi : ZKHQ BRX KDYH GHFRGHG WKLV ZRUN
RXW WZHQWB VHYHQ WLPHV QLQH DQG WHOO BRXU WHDFKHU.

Write a message of your own, and encipher it using the Caesar Wheel. Hand the secret message to your
partner, and get them to decipher it.

In pairs, discuss how good this cipher is at protec ng messages. Can you think of any ways to improve it?

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 Teacher’s Notes — The Caesar Shi

The Caesar Shi Cipher has a long history of usage, da ng back to Julius Caesar (100BC—44BC). He used
the cipher to protect messages of military importance, and it is believed that he used many other subs ‐
tu on ciphers as well (although this is the only one we have evidence of him using, as quoted by Suetoni‐
us). The cipher works by subs tu ng for each le er the le er that is k le ers further along the alphabet,
where k is the key. Below is the completed table for a shi of 3.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C

If a shi of 3 is always used, as it is thought was the case with Caesar, then it is fairly easy for an intercep‐
tor to break the code. However, the huge benefit of this cipher over the Atbash or Pigpen is that there is a
key. This key allows the user of the cipher to change a very small detail of the encryp on process, which
does not make it any harder to encipher or decipher if you know the key, but makes it a lot harder to
break the code for someone who intercepts the message. Discuss the use of keys in cryptography as be‐
ing integral to crea ng a more secure cipher, by giving the person using the cipher a choice, it makes it
harder to work out the original message for an interceptor. Also note the important fact that, for a good
cipher, the intended recipient knows the key, and so it is also easy for them to decipher the original mes‐
sage.
Give each pupil a copy of the Caesar Wheel Template, and they need to cut it out, and fasten the two
wheels together using a clip. It works by matching “a” on the inner wheel to the appropriate shi le er
on the outer wheel: so for a shi of 3, “a” would be lined up with “D”. Explain that this was a very early
machine used to help in the process of enciphering and deciphering secret messages.
There are 26 different keys for this cipher: “a” ‐> “A” (shi of 0); “a” ‐> “B” (shi of 1); “a” ‐> “C” (shi of
2); etc. Note that the iden ty shi is a key, but that it is pre y useless as it just returns the original mes‐
sage. Also note that a shi of 26 is the same as a shi of 0, and can introduce some modular arithme c.
Also, a shi of –1 (or 1 to the right) is the same as a shi of 25.
The message decodes as: ‘When you have decoded this work out twenty seven mes nine and tell your
teacher’.
In discussions of how good the cipher is, expect to hear that it is be er than the Atbash and Pigpen Ci‐
phers, and ask why (because it has a key).

Extension: How could we make this cipher even more secure? One way would be to jumble up the alpha‐
bet first, before you write it on the two wheels.

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 Caesar Wheel Template

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Caesar Wheel
Direc ons:
1. Paste this whole page onto thin card
2. Carefully cut around the two circles
3. Write the alphabet in RED around
the SMALL circle
4. Write the alphabet in BLACK around
the LARGE circle
5. Fix the small circle onto the big
circle using a paper fastener through
the centre (marked with a dot)

You are ready to use your Caesar Wheel

REMEMBER the plaintext

le ers are wri en in BLACK, the
ciphertext le ers are wri en in RED

ENCIPHERING = BLACK to RED

DECIPHERING = RED to BLACK

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