In the art of espionage
Subterfuge and military matters the necessity of secrecy is paramount in the modern day
Most of our messages are encrypted and sent discreetly and instantly across the world. Of course, the ancients didn't have access to these tools
So the question naturally arises
How did they send secret messages?
In the Bronze Age information was widely kept secret by simply being written
Widespread illiteracy meant only the educated were able to read they would send illiterate messengers to transport their written messages
There was little risk of interception unless it was by another educated person
We hear of one particularly ironic example in the Iliad wherein the illiterate Bellerophon
delivers his own death sentence to King Lobates
Coming into the Classical era the rate of literacy increased to a level
where they could no longer depend on widespread illiteracy to keep their messages a secret
These early attempts at secrecy led to some interesting methods. For example, leading up to the Ionian revolt in
499 BCE the Milesian Histiaeus sought to provoke his son-in-law
The tyrant of Miletus to revolt the ways to Miletus were heavily guarded
So in order to send discreet orders, Histiaeus came up with the idea to tattoo the head of a slave with the secret message
after waiting for the slaves hair to regrow
He was sent Miletus with the instructions to shave his head to get the message. Of course
This was a very slow but very secure encryption method for messages and we could not imagine it was a common practice
Another important factor, is that the method of encryption for the message could be understood by the receiver
During the Persian Wars we hear about the exiled Spartan Demaratus who sought to warn the Spartans about the Persian advance
So he sent a wooden plate with the warning written on it
The text was smooth over with wax to give the appearance of a blank plate
The receiver would then need to melt the wax to reveal its message
However, these instructions were not made clear to the Spartans who were seemingly given a blank plate
It was only an accident that the Spartans melted the wax sometime later revealing the message
So as we've determined good encryption is something that is both easy to encrypt and decrypt and understood by both parties
The Scytale pioneered by the Spartans and coming in use around the time of the Peloponnesian War met all of these requirements
The Scytale was a rather simple encryption device
but it was quick to use and relatively secure. It comprised of a thin roll of papyrus and a wooden rod called the Scytale
The papyrus was wound tight around the wooden rod and a secret message was written on it
Afterwards, it would be unwound and the resulting scroll jumbled the message so that it became incomprehensible
The scroll was then delivered and the recipient had a Scytale of their own with the exact same thickness and length
They would wrap the scroll around this Scytale perfectly as to align the letters and reveal its message
The Scytale offered a quick and effective encryption of messages between spotters military command
Although it was not without its limitations the method of encryption simply rearranged the letters
Meaning it would be possible with enough time to decrypt the message. It would also need to be filled completely to maximize its efficiency
otherwise, it would be simpler to decrypt. It is for these reasons that it is debated whether the Scytale was used more as a
Means of authentication rather than as an encryption device
the exactness of the length and width of the Scytale made it
significantly harder to forge a message without either Scytale on hand.
As such each Skytale would authenticate the origin of the message and only make it intelligible for the intended recipient
The weakness of the Skytale
Encryption is also seemingly evident by the numerous times in our sources where Spartan messages are made apparent to us
Although perhaps the Spartans simply placed too much faith in this Skytale encryption
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