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Codes
in history
Codes and
ciphers have been used since ancient times. The word CRYPTOGRAPHY,
meaning the science of codes, comes from the Greek words kryptos
(secret) and graphos (writing).
In 405 BC
the Greek general LYSANDER OF SPARTA was sent a coded message
written on the inside of a servant's belt. When Lysander wound
the belt around a wooden baton the message was revealed. The message
warned Lysander that Persia was about to go to war against him.
He immediately set sail and defeated the Persians.
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The Greeks
also invented a code which changed letters into numbers. A
is written as 11, B is 12, and so on. So WAR would read 52
11 42. A form of this code was still being used two
thousand years later during the First World War. |
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The Roman Emperor
JULIUS CAESAR invented his own simple code. He moved each
letter of the alphabet along three places, so that A became
D, B became E and so on. His famous phrase
VENI, VIDI, VICI ("I came, I saw, I conquered")
would have read YHQL YLGL YLFL. After the fall of the Roman
Empire codes were not used much until the sixteenth century. Then
Italian and French scholars began to make up very complicated
codes. The science of code-breaking - CRYPTANALYSIS - had
begun.
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In Elizabethan
England MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS sent coded messages to her
supporters who where plotting to murder Queen Elizabeth I.
The messages were intercepted by the head of Elizabeth's secret
service, Sir Francis Walsingham. He deciphered them and discovered
the plot. Mary was executed for treason in 1587.
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Find
out about modern codes
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