Battle of the Nile (47 BC) Mystery Cache
Hidden : 2/29/2012
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:




The Battle of the Nile in 47 BC saw the combined Roman–Egyptian armies of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII defeat those of the rival Queen Arsinoe IV and King Ptolemy XIII and secure the throne of Egypt.

After pursuing his rival Pompey to Egypt, Caesar, recently victorious in a civil war closer to home, became entwined in the Alexandrine civil war after his rival, Pompey Magnus, was killed in an attempt to please Caesar.

From August (48 B.C.) until January (47 B.C.), Caesar was besieged in Alexandria, Egypt with about 4,000 men. He was attempting to resolve the Egyptian Civil War between Ptolemy XIII and his sister Cleopatra. When Caesar began to appear to favor Cleopatra over him, Ptolemy fled, or was released by Caesar, and gathered his army to besiege the Romans in a small area of Alexandria.

The Egyptians could never completely cut the Romans off from reinforcements and resupply, but had begun to get the upper hand by January. Caesar had requested reinforcements from his ally, Mithridates of Pergamum, who marched overland from Asia Minor to assist him. Arriving in the Nile delta in January, Mithridates defeated one Egyptian force sent to stop him. Caesar, getting a message that his allies were close, left a small garrison in Alexandria and hurried to meet them. The combined force, about 20,000 strong, met the Egyptians in February 47 BC at the Battle of the Nile. The Egyptian army, equipped in the Greek manner, was probably about the same size.

Caesar attacked the Egyptians in the traditional Roman manner, under a shower of pila (plural of the Roman spear, pilum). The pike-armed Egyptians were overwhelmed once the Romans used their shields and got past the pike's point, when they began laying about with their short swords (gladii). The Roman legions destroyed an Egyptian fort, and after heavy fighting stormed Ptolemy's camp. Thousands fled, including Ptolemy, who reputedly drowned when his ship capsized. Egypt was now in the hands of Caesar, who placed Cleopatra on the throne with another of her brothers, Ptolemy XIV.

After the transition of power to Cleopatra, Caesar uncharacteristically remained in Egypt for months. Some Historians claim he was intrigued with the Pyramids spending weeks touring them and marveling at the engineering accomplishments. Other Historians claim he was having a tryst with the new youthful Queen. Several documents have been located and are believed to be from Caesar to Cleopatra. The problem is they are written in code. Until they are deciphered the world will never know, engineering or tryst? Below is one of the documents.




Yt rd ijfwjxy Hqjtufywf,

Rjjy rj xnc t'hqthp fy:

ktzw-ybjsydjnlmy-knkyjjs-knaj-jnlmyjjs-knaj-ybjsydjnlmy-knkyjjs
jqjajs-ybjsydjnlmy-knkyjjs-ymnwyjjs-ymnwydtsj-jnlmyjjs-yjs-ybjsydjnlmy
knaj-ktwydtsj-ktzwyjjs-xjajsyjjs-ktwydtsj-ybjsyd-ktzwyjjs-ybjsydjnlmy
ybjsyd-ybjsydjnlmy-jnlmyjjs-knkyjjs-ybjsydjnlmy-knkyjjs-ymnwyjjs-snsjyjjs
tsj-ktwydtsj-ktzwyjjs-ybjsydxjajs-ymnwyjjs-jnlmyjjs-ybjsydxnc-ybjsydymwjj
knkyjjs-ybjqaj-ktwyd-tsj-tsj-ymnwyjjs-ybjsydjnlmy-knkyjjs-ybjsyd-ktwyd
ktwyd-ybjsydxjajs-ktzwyjjs-jqjajs-ybjsydxnc-ymnwydtsj-knkyjjs-ybjsydsnsj

ymnwyjjs-tsj-ybjsydsnsj-ybjqaj-ymnwydktzw-jnlmyjjs-ybjsydtsj-ybjsyd-ktwyd
ybjsydxnc-tsj-ybjqaj-ymnwyd-jnlmyjjs-yjs-ymnwyd-ybjsyd-ktzwyjjs-ybjsydxjajs
ybjsydjnlmy-ybjsyd-ymnwydknaj-jnlmyjjs-knkyjjs-ybjsydxnc-knkyjjs-ktwydymwjj
ktwydtsj-ymnwyjjs-snsjyjjs-tsj-ymnwyd-ktzwyjjs-ymnwyjjs-ymnwyd-ybjsydjnlmy
jnlmyjjs-ybjsydjnlmy-knaj-ktzwyjjs-ybjsydxjajs-xjajsyjjs-ybjsydjnlmy-ktwyd
knaj-ybjsydxjajs-ktzwyjjs-xjajsyjjs-ybjsydxjajs-ybjsydxjajs-ybjsyd-tsj
ybjsydjnlmy-ybjsydjnlmy-xnc-ybjsydxnc-ktwyd-ybjqaj-ybjsydjnlmy-ymnwydybt



First to Solve (FTS) - JohnnyKay

First to Find (FTF) - JohnnyKay

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Cneg #1 - Pnrfne ybbxf terng va gur cvpgher. Cneg #2 – V’z gelvat gb pvcure gung fgnaqneq clenzvq va gur onpxtebhaq. Ubj’q gurl qb gung?

Decryption Key

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

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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