Question: A correspondent (R. D.) proposes the following little puzzle:
Boadicea died one hundred and twenty-nine years after Cleopatra was born. Their united ages (that is, the combined years of their complete lives) were one hundred years. Cleopatra died 30 B.C. When was Boadicea born?
Answer: There were 129 years between the birth of Oeopatra and the death of Boadicea; but, as their united ages amounted to 100 years only, there must have been 29 years when neither existed-that is, between the death of Oeopatra and the birth of Boadicea. Therefore Boadicea must have been born 29 years after the death of Cleopatra in 30 B.C., which would be in the year 1 B.C.
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