scytale

thumb|right|A scytale with a leather strip

In cryptography, a scytale (; ; also transliterated skytale, skutálē "baton, cylinder", also skútalon) is a tool used to perform a transposition cipher, consisting of a cylinder with a strip of parchment wound around it on which a message is written. The ancient Greeks, and the Spartans in particular, are said to have used this cipher to communicate during military campaigns.