# Palindrome in a cesarian code

Here's some album art from my favorite album "Trinity" by "Sons of Perdition": I've learned from reliable sources that the coordinates on this map are actually a cesarean cipher with a shift of

12

, which resolves to a famous Latin palindrome

in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni

However I can't wrap my head around on how to resolve numbers into letters, as their count do not match the number of letters in the palindrome.

That's the best quality of this image I have, and struggle to read the numbers myself, but I think the numbers are the following:

  19 1 12 23 10 5 25 5 10 23 12 1 19 26 1 18
1                                            5
12                                           8
23                                           10
10                                           1
5                                            18
25                                           1
5 10 23 12 1 19 26 1 18 5 8 10 1 18 1 14


BeastlyGerbil - Some edited pictures here and here

• can you provide a version that is large enough to read? or can you type the numbers maybe? Aug 31, 2016 at 7:58
• Do you have a picture with a higher resolution or could you provide the coordinates around the map as text? I find them hard to read. Aug 31, 2016 at 7:59
• Sorry, It's the best I have. I'm struggling to read it too, but I will try to write them down
– Ben
Aug 31, 2016 at 7:59
• it's weird. the sentence you provided has 32 letters. 38 with spaces. there are 44 numbers around the map. maybe only the ones on the top or bottom should be used? or some letters are represented by two numbers? Aug 31, 2016 at 8:13
• When I squint I can read the numbers clockwise starting from the top left corner with what looks like a 29. That 29 occurs again under the "Special Guests" block and just repeats the numbers after that. That doesn't explain that the sentence is a palindrome, though, because reading the numbers anticlockwise from the bottom 29 doesn't yield the same number sequence. Aug 31, 2016 at 8:15

I think this might be it... It doesn't match the latin phrase you mentioned, but it does fit the same themes, and those of the album itself (yes, I was listening to it while I solved it). It involves both palindromes and an ouroborus.

Firstly, you have to read the digits as follows:

  19 1 12 23 10 5 25 5 10 23 12 1 19 26 1 18
1                                            5
12                                           8
23                                           10
10                                           1
5                                            18
25                                           1
5 10 23 12 1 19 26 1 18 5 8 10 1 18 1 14


Which mapped to letters gives (1=A, 26=Z):

  S A L W J E Y E J W L A S Z A R
A                                 E
L                                 H
W                                 J
J                                 A
E                                 R
Y                                 A
E J W L A S Z A R E H J A R A N


Apply a ROT4 caesar shift:

  W E P A N I C I N A P E W D E V
E                                 I
P                                 L
A                                 N
N                                 E
I                                 V
C                                 E
I N A P E W D E V I L N E V E R


Giving a palindrome that overlaps itself starting in multiple places. Eg. running from the top left:

We panic in a pew. Devil never even lived. (repeat)

• The author himself has told me that he used ROT12. It seems that he had forgotten :D
– Ben
Sep 1, 2016 at 10:33
• @Benedictus - that's pretty funny. ...maybe just trying to throw you off track. :) Sep 1, 2016 at 10:45
• exactly my thoughts :D
– Ben
Sep 1, 2016 at 18:03